


Persona 5: The Crimson Ghosts

by Swedish_Justin



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Mild Sexual Content, My First Fanfic, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:02:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 72,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25736992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swedish_Justin/pseuds/Swedish_Justin
Summary: Ren Amamiya is a 16 year-old Asian-American high school student from Seattle. He has always been a bit of a troublemaker. Whether it be getting into fights, skating in prohibited areas or tagging buildings with graffiti. So when the news broke that he was arrested for assaulting some foreigner, the people in his hometown weren’t all too surprised. Now on Probation, Ren has to move to Japan and live with his uncle, Sojiro, for a whole year. Hopefully he can stay out of trouble while abroad.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Takamaki Ann, Kurusu Akira/Takamaki Ann, Persona 5 Protagonist/Takamaki Ann, Sakamoto Ryuji/Suzui Shiho
Comments: 82
Kudos: 78





	1. Can’t Kick Up The Roots

**Author's Note:**

> I've been really getting into fanfics lately, so I thought I'd try my hand at making one myself.  
> This is mostly just something I thought about doing for my own enjoyment, but I hope anyone reading will be able to enjoy it too.
> 
> -Text in italics are used to indicate the date and location, as well as to show characters speaking in English.  
> -Had a fun idea to name chapters after rock songs. This one is Can't Kick Up The Roots by a band called Neck Deep

_08/04/2016_

_Seattle, Washington_

_King County International Airport_

Over the loud noises of crowds walking and chatting throughout the airport, there is a family of four sitting quietly at one of the benches, staring out the massive window, watching the planes outside. The silence between them was broken when a tall man with curly black hair and a very noticeable stubble spoke up.

_“You okay, Ren?”_ He asked.

 _“Nope.”_ Replied the boy, with similarly curly hair. He looked back at the man with a small smile. The older man gave a small chuckle and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

 _“Don’t worry son, it’s just one year. Uncle Sojiro will take good care of you while you’re in Tokyo, and then you’ll be able to come back home.”_ He replied, while looking down at Ren with his sympathetic grey eyes.

 _“You’re father’s right, Ren.”_ Said the older looking woman as she pushed a stray strand of her straight brown hair out of her face, showing her dark brown eyes that were on the verge of tears. _“Sojiro’s a good man, he’ll definitely take good care of you. I remember the first time I showed you to him when you were a baby, he almost didn’t want to let go of you, your father almost had to pry you out of his hands.”_ She said, earning a laugh from everyone sitting at the bench.

 _“Thanks mom, I think a good laugh is what I needed.”_ Replied Ren. He glanced down at his watch and stood up.

 _“Plane’s gonna be departing soon, we should get going now.”_ Ren said. As the rest of his family got up, a girl with shoulder-length brown hair, brown eyes and glasses, walked up to him and gave him a tight hug, while sobbing slightly into his shoulder.

 _“Have fun in Tokyo, baby bro. I know you’re gonna love it. Just try not to cause too much trouble while you’re there, ‘kay?”_ She said, face still pressed against his shoulder.

 _“Can’t make any promises Emi, I’ll try though.”_ Ren replied, giving her a sly smirk.

Emi lifted her head from Ren’s shoulder and slapped it, she looked him in the eyes and returned the smile.

 _“Always got to be a smartass, huh?”_ Emi asked, still grinning at her little brother.

 _“Blame dad, I get it from him”_ Ren replied, turning his gaze to his father. His father chuckled and shook his head, walking up to Ren, he pulled him into a big up; his sister and mother soon joined in on the group hug and remained silent for a few brief moments.

 _“We’re all gonna miss you, you know that, right Ren?”_ His father said.

 _“I’m gonna miss my skateboard.”_ Ren replied with a slight chuckle. Earning a audible snort through his father’s nose.

 _“You really do take after your old man, huh.”_ Ren’s father looked down at him with a large grin.

_“Don’t worry about your board, we shipped it along with all your other stuff. It should arrive at Sojiro’s place around the same time you get there.”_

Ren broke away from the hug and looked at his father with eyes wide in shock.

 _“Are you for real?”_ He asked.

 _“I opted against it, but your sister and father convinced me to pack it with your stuff. They said it would make you happy, and from the look on your face, I’d say they were right.”_ His mother chimed in.

Ren just looked at his family and smiled sadly.

 _“Even after everything that happened these last few weeks, you’re all still so kind to me. What did I ever do to deserve you guys?”_ Ren said, tears threatening to leave his eyes.

 _“You’re part of the Amamiya family, Ren, as much of a little shit you can be at times, we’re always gonna love you, no matter what!”_ His father replied.

 _“Besides, that whole court case was a farce_!” Emi chimed in, _“The fact they wouldn’t even tell us the name of the guy that sued you is really suspicious.”_

 _“Indeed. Don’t worry Ren, your father and I will do what we can to clear your name, you’ll just have to be patient with us. We promise to do whatever we can to find justice.”_ His mother added on.

Ren just stared at his family again, tears beginning to form from his eyes. He rubbed his eyes with his sleeve before they could start flowing down his cheeks and went in for another hug with his family.

Ren and his family then proceeded to the terminal where he would begin boarding; after a few more hugs, wishes and goodbyes, Ren boarded the plane for his 10 hour journey to Japan.

_09/04/2016_

_Tokyo, Japan_

_Haneda Airport_

Ren awoke from his 10-hour nap on the plane feeling relatively fine. Not extremely tired or jet-lagged as he was expecting. As he exited the plane, he pulled out his phone and texted the family group chat, telling them he arrived safely and was on the lookout for his uncle. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and went through the TSA checkpoint. After dealing with them he began looking for his uncle. It didn’t take him very long as he spotted a man with slicked back hair, a long goatee and a salmon colored shirt holding a sign that said ‘Ren Amamiya’ in both English text and Kanji. Ren smiled and waved as he approached.

“So… You’re Yumi’s kid, huh?” Sojiro said with a smirk.

“You’ve sure grown up since I first met you. You were still in diapers at the time.” He chuckled.

“Yeah, and I heard my dad had to force you to let go of me at the time.” Ren replied, returning the smirk Sojiro’s way.

“Oh wow, your Japanese is pretty good. You don’t even have any weird accent.” Sojiro said, eyes wide in surprise.

“Yeah; mom pretty much drilled it into mine and my sister’s heads when we were kids. I’ve been able to speak it fluently since I was about eight or nine.” Ren replied.

“Yep, that definitely sounds like Yumi. We used to go the same high school back in the day. Studying with her was a bit of a pain, but I ended up in the top-ten in my grade a few times because of her.” Sojiro said with a smile.

“Anyways, let’s get out of here. Airports are like breeding grounds for sickness. As a guy that works in the restaurant business, getting sick is the last thing I need right now.”

Sojiro then led Ren out of the airport, toward his car.

“Jeez, I don’t usually let guys sit in the front of my car.” Said Sojiro.

“Want me to wear a dress?” Ren replied with a cheeky grin on his face. Sojiro grinned back.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t, but if that’s how you like to roll, who am I to say anything?” Sojiro replied. Ren laughed at his response.

“And here I thought I’d be the one making all the jokes.”

The two got in the car and began their drive to Sojiro’s place in Yongen-Jaya. They passed the time with idle chit-chat until Ren noticed Sojiro’s car had an AUX port; he quickly pulled out the AUX cable that was stashed in the front of his bag and gestured towards his uncle if he could play some music. Sojiro raised an eyebrow at first, contemplating whether Ren’s music would be good or not; ultimately, Sojiro nodded, thinking it would be a good way to bond with his nephew. He didn’t know much about the kid, but he was a teenager from America, so Sojiro braced himself for whatever annoying pop music Ren was about to play. To Sojiro’s surprise, he began hearing the riff of a guitar followed by some vocals in a language he didn’t really understand, but assumed it was English. Ren turned his head towards Sojiro and asked

“Ever heard of Alice in Chains?” Sojiro just shook his head, but smirked at him. It wasn’t the smooth jazz he usually preferred listening to, but a little rock music here and there wasn’t that bad. As long as it wasn’t annoying pop music, Sojiro would be fine.

Their drive continued for a while and Ren continued to play music from a bunch of bands Sojiro had never heard before. Some of them included were: The Misfits, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, The Butthole Surfers, Smashing Pumpkins and The Ramones; just to name a few.

They soon arrived at Sojiro’s house. Ren got out of the car while Sojiro went to go park. Ren just stared up at the house. It was located in a small alleyway with not much else in the area apart from a few other houses. Ren felt a hand tap his shoulder, he turned around to see it was Sojiro.

“So this is where I’ll be staying, huh? Your house looks pretty nice.” Said Ren.

“Thanks, but you’re not staying here though.” Sojiro replied.

Ren raised an eyebrow, staring at Sojiro in confusion.

“Huh, then where am I gonna live?” Ren asked, eyebrow still raised at Sojiro.

“Here, follow me.” Sojiro said as he walked down the alley, gesturing Ren with his hand for him to follow. They turned left and continued down the alley where Ren noticed a few points of interest; there was a movie theatre, though it appeared to be closed at the moment, a clinic, batting cages, a small supermarket, a second hand store, a cigarette vendor and a couple of vending machines.

 _“Guess I won’t need to worry about where to buy cigarettes from”_ Ren said to himself in English.

“You say something?” Sojiro asked.

“I said there’s quite a lot of stuff here, for such a small area” Ren lied

“Well that just makes things more convenient here,” Sojiro replied “Anyways, here we are.”

Ren and Sojiro stopped in front of a small hidden away café.

Ren was a bit taken aback as to why they were in front of a café, until Ren remembered Sojiro mentioning he worked in the restaurant business and it all suddenly clicked. He looked at his uncle in disbelief and asked:

“Are you for real?” Asked Ren; Sojiro just raised an eyebrow at him.

“What do you mean?” He replied to his nephew.

“Am I gonna be living in your café?” Ren asked, looking Sojiro dead in the eyes.

“Not in the café…” Sojiro tried to respond before he was cut off by Ren.

“Where then?!” Ren blurted out, slightly annoyed.

“In the attic of the café” Sojiro finished. He fished out the keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, there was a small jingle of a bell as Sojiro walked in, but Ren just stood still, trying to process what his uncle just said.

 _“The fucking attic, is he actually serious?”_ Ren mumbled to himself as he walked in. As he entered, he was immediately struck by the strong scent of coffee. He looked around the little café, from the sitting booths on his left, the bar on his right and the wall of coffee beans behind it; the place gave off a very warm and homey feel. Ren stared for a bit, trying to take everything in, but was brought out of his little trance by Sojiro snapping his fingers. Ren turned to Sojiro, who gestured him up the stairs. Ren made his way up to the attic and was quite surprised to see the attic was in a fairly good condition, a little dust here and there, but overall it was quite nice.

“Well,” Sojiro turned to Ren “What do you think?”

“It’s a lot cleaner than I expected, honestly.” Ren replied.

“I had someone come over to clean this place out the other day, I think they did a pretty good job.” Sojiro said as he walked over to the two large cardboard boxes in the middle of the room. “These boxes are yours, they came in this morning before I went to pick you up at the airport.”

Ren’s eyes widened and ran up to the boxes, he got down on his knees and began opening them. The first one contained a bunch a his clothes; various band T-shirts, jeans, hoodies, a blazer, socks, a few pairs of Vans and Converse sneakers, but most importantly, his favorite skateboard.

The deck was plain black, with large text in the middle that said _“Deathwish”_ in red with two skeletal hands on each side making ‘devil horns’ with their fingers. The deck was fairly scratched and the colors were starting to fade due to Ren’s excessive grinding, but was still in very good condition due to Ren’s constant upkeep and maintenance of the board. The trucks were still pretty new, having been replaced by Ren a week before his conviction. The wheels were a little bit older, but were also pretty well kept; they were black with two small decals of a smiling fireball on opposite ends of the wheel, as well as text that said _“Spitfire”_ in between them. Ren’s smile widened, he turned to Sojiro and asked

“Mind if I take my board out for a spin?”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I’ve got to take you to your new school tomorrow, you sure you don’t just want to unpack your stuff and rest for a bit?” Sojiro responded.

“School?” Ren asked, raising an eyebrow at him “Isn’t tomorrow Sunday?”

“Believe me, going to school’s not my ideal way to spend Sunday either; I’m gonna lose out on business, you know.” Sojiro frowned.

“Regardless, as your guardian, I’ve still got to take you…” He trailed off, going over to the counter next to Ren’s bed and picked up some more clothes, and gave them to Ren.

“Speaking of school, this is your new uniform, try it on. You’ll be wearing it tomorrow.”

“Uniform?” Ren asked, looking puzzled at Sojiro “This some kind of fancy prep school?”

“Pretty much.” Sojiro said with a shrug “Regardless, most Japanese high schools make uniforms compulsory, so you’d likely be wearing one anyway, fancy prep school or not.”

Ren just sighed, accepting his fate. Sojiro left the attic to let Ren change. After a few minutes he was fully dressed in his new Shujin Academy uniform.

“Hm, these pants aren’t half bad, kinda gives off a cool Euro-Punk aesthetic. I wonder if I can get away with wearing sneakers instead of my school shoes?” Ren thought to himself. Sojiro came back up to the attic to check up on him.

“How’s it going, the uniform fit alright?” Sojiro asked.

“Yeah, it fit’s fine. I actually think it looks pretty good on me” Ren answered.

“That’s good to hear. Anyways, here’s the keys to the place.” Sojiro said as he placed the keys down on the table near the stairs. “I’m trusting you to lock up here tonight. I’m going home for the night, figured you’d want to explore the area a bit. Just don’t leave Yongen or stay out too late, you hear?”

Ren just hummed and nodded.

“There’s also a bath house just opposite from here, maybe you can relax there for a bit before bed?” Sojiro suggested.

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. Goodnight, Sojiro.” Ren replied.

“Oh, and no need to keep calling me Sojiro, just call me ‘Boss’, everyone else here does. Anyway, goodnight kid.” Sojiro said as he made his way down the stairs.

A few minutes had passed as Ren undressed himself from his uniform and put back on his regular clothes. He made his way to the bath house where he decided to unwind for a bit. It didn’t last long though, there was a weird old man who kept adding more and more hot water. Ren got out after a few minutes so he wouldn’t end up passing out. After changing back, he walked over to the cigarette vendor. He looked around to make sure nobody was around to see him purchase anything. The coast was clear, so he quickly paid and left for Leblanc.

Ren passed the rest of the night with a few smokes and sending some texts to his friends and family back home. Most of his friends did not reply back, which wasn’t all too surprising to him. He closed his IM app and was about put away his phone when he noticed a glowing red app he had not seen before.

“Weird… I don’t remember downloading this.” Ren thought to himself. “Must’ve come with the latest update. I’ll check it out tomorrow.” Ren quickly plugged his phone in the charger beside his bed and began dozing off.

Ren was sleeping peacefully in the attic until suddenly, he was woken up by the sound of piano music.

“The fu..?” Ren mumbled, still feeling groggy from waking up so suddenly. Ren looked around the room, eyes half-lidded, until he realized he was no longer in the attic, but instead a prison cell, with an uncomfortable amount of blue everywhere. He quickly jumped off the bed he was on and shouted:

“What the shit, is this some kinda dream?!”

“Hahahaha” came an unknown voice, bringing Ren’s attention to the iron bars to his right. As he searched for the source of the laughter, he noticed two young girls in blue. They had pale skin and yellow eyes, each had an eyepatch that mirrored the other’s. They also had platinum blond hair, one styled in a long-braid, the other styled with a bun on both sides of her head.

“Um… Hi?” Ren mumbled to the two girls, still trying to grasp his situation.

“Ah, the Trickster has decided to join us.” Said an unnervingly deep voice. Ren looked up from the girls and noticed a lanky man with a long nose and big bulging eyes, sitting behind a desk.

“Welcome to **my** Velvet Room.” He continued.

“The hell, what’s going on?” Ren mumbled

“So you’ve come to, inmate.” Said the bun haired girl to Ren’s right.

“The you in reality is currently fast asleep.” Said the girl to the left. “You are only experiencing this as a dream.” She finished.

“You’re in the presence of our master, stand up straight!” ordered the girl on the right.

Ren did not reply, he just stood still, trying to process what was currently happening.

“Yep, definitely a dream.” He thought.

The man at the desk cleared his throat, gaining Ren’s attention.

“Welcome, I am delighted to make your acquaintance.” He said, “This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those bound by a “contract” may enter.” He continued, to which Ren just kept staring, not taking his eyes off the strange man.

“My name is Igor, I am the master of this place, Remember it well. I summoned you to speak of important matters; It involves your life as well.”

“Yeah, cool story dude, I didn’t fucking ask though. Let me out!” Demanded Ren.

Suddenly, the girl on the right smacked the cell’s bars with the baton she was holding.

“Know your place, Inmate! Who do you think you’re talking to!?” She shouted.

Igor cleared his throat again, directing everyone’s attention back to him.

“Still, this is quite the surprise… The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such. You truly are a “prisoner” of fate.” Said Igor.

“Uh… Okay?” Was all Ren could say, the whole conversation just left him more confused.

“In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you.” Igor continued.

“Ruin?” Ren asked.

“I speak of the end to everything. However, there is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be “rehabilitated.” Rehabilitated towards freedom… That is your only means to avoid ruin.” Replied Igor.

“Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?” He asked Ren.

“How’s about you quit it with the cryptic and vague bullshit and tell me what exactly is going on here?” Replied Ren; as he did so, he noticed the girl on his right shot him a threatening glare.

“In due time.” Answered Igor, “Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation.” He continued. The two girls turned around and began facing Ren.

“Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They serve as wardens here.” Igor said.

“Hmph, you’re a rowdy one. Try and struggle as hard as you want.” Caroline said in a fierce tone.

“The duty of wardens is to protect inmates. We are also your collaborators… That is, if you remain obedient.” Said Justine in a far calmer, yet somehow more threatening tone.

“I shall explain the roles of these two at another occasion.” Said Igor. “Now then, the night is waning… It is almost time. Take your time to slowly come to understand this place, we will surely meet again… Eventually.” He continued. Before Ren was able to respond, he heard the sound of a loud siren.

“Time’s up.” Said Caroline, “Now hurry up and go back to sleep.”

Ren grabbed onto the cell’s bars and was about to protest, but everything faded to black before he could get a word out.

_10/04/2016_

_Tokyo, Japan_

_Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya_

Ren’s eyes shot open and quickly glanced around the room. He was back in his bed in the attic and let out a deep sigh.

“Jeez, the fuck were in those cigarettes I had last night?”

Ren got up and sat on the end of the bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“What a weird-ass dream. Anyway, I’ve got school today, unfortunately.” He said with a long drawn-out sigh.

“Welp, I should get ready… Maybe I can modify my uniform at least, make it more… Me, I guess.” Ren said with a small grin.

While not an actual school day, this would be Ren’s first day at his new school, and he was fully prepared to let them know how much of a misfit he was going to be.


	2. School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skater Lingo 101:  
> -Ollie: Most basic skating trick. When you get yourself and the board into the air. Crucial for more advanced tricks.  
> -Make/Made: Successfully landing a trick you’ve been attempting.  
> -Dial/On-Lock: Can repeat a trick consistently without fail.  
> -Shaky: Land a trick, but not without error. Anything that is not perfect or ideal.  
> -Handplant: A trick where you lift your body and board off the ground with one hand.  
> -Switch: Change foot stance. The two stances being Regular (Right foot on the board, push with the left) and Goofy, which is the mirrored version of Regular.  
> -Shuvit/Pop Shuvit: Trick in which you rotate the board 180 degrees (or more) without flipping it.  
> -Kickflip: Trick in which you horizontally flip the board 360 degrees by flicking the corner of the board towards the skater.  
> -Heelfip: Similar to the kickflip, is instead executed with the heel, flipping the board away from the skater.  
> -(Not all is used in this chapter, but will come up in future chapters.)  
> -Song is School by Nirvana

_10/04/2016_

_Tokyo, Japan_

_Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya_

After waking up from his strange dream, Ren decided to get dressed for what would technically be his first day at school. However, instead of wearing the school uniform normally, like he did yesterday, he opted to make a few of his own adjustments. Instead of the plain shirt and turtleneck sweater, he swapped it out for one of his many band t-shirts and a black hoodie, followed by the school’s blazer. He kept the plaid pants, but let the suspenders hang around his waist, letting his belt do most of the work at keeping his pants up. Ren took a glance at his school shoes and gently pushed them under the bed, pretending they just didn’t exist. He walked over to his boxes of clothes and pulled out his black Sk8-Hi Vans. Once he was dressed fully, he pulled out a small container from the cardboard box. He opened it and took out a plain pair of thick-rimmed glasses that were given to him by his older sister just before he left for Tokyo. Ren started thinking back to the conversation they had before his departure.

_“Hey, Ren-Ren…”_ Said Emi, voice slightly cracking as she spoke.

 _“Heh, it’s been a while since I’ve heard you call me that.”_ Ren replied, lightly grinning at her.

Emi reached inside her handbag and took out a small container, handing it over to Ren, to which he quickly opened upon receiving.

 _“Glasses?”_ Ren asked, looking a bit puzzled.

 _“Yeah, I thought maybe if you wore them, it would help you blend in with a crowd more; make you look more unassuming.”_ Said Emi, her eyes downcast. _“You don’t like them, do you?”_

 _“No-no, they’re great, it’s just…”_ Ren trailed off, trying to think of something to say to lighten the mood.

 _“I’m not sure if I pull off the glasses look as well as you do. It’s honestly unfair how well you pull them off.”_ He joked, earning a giggle from his sister.

 _“You always know just what to say to get a laugh out of someone.”_ Emi said, her smile growing wider.

 _“Blame dad, I get it from him.”_ Ren replied, earning another giggle from his sister.

 _“No fair, you’re not allowed to use the same joke twice.”_ She said, lightly jabbing his shoulder.

The two of them stood together in silence for a moment before Emi spoke up,

_“I’m really going to miss our little banter sessions like these.”_

_“Same here… You can be a real pain in these ass sometimes, but I’m really gonna miss you, sis.”_ Ren replied.

Emi feigned a hurt expression at her brother’s remark.

 _“Pot, meet kettle”_ She joked, jabbing Ren’s shoulder again.

 _“Hitting me again? Maybe I should sue **you** for assault; bring you to Japan with me.” _Ren joked, causing both siblings to burst out laughing. Emi then pulled Ren into a tight hug.

 _“I pray that mouth of yours doesn’t get you into more trouble while you’re over there. Please stay safe, Ren.”_ Emi said, holding tightly onto her brother.

 _“Yeah… Thanks for the glasses by the way, I’ll be sure to wear them often.”_ Ren said, gently kissing Emi’s forehead.

Ren continued staring at the glasses until he heard the door open downstairs, breaking him out of his thoughts. He put the glasses on and made his way downstairs.

“Morning, Boss.” Said Ren.

“Morning, Re-“ Sojiro tried to greet Ren, but cut himself off when he noticed his clothes.

“What’s with the getup?” He asked, “I thought you said you liked the uniform?”

“I did, but I like it even better like this.” Ren said while shrugging, to which Sojiro just sighed.

“Listen, I’m not gonna tell you how to dress, but if you get into trouble with the school, that’s on you, are we clear?” Sojiro said sternly.

“Crystal.” Ren responded nonchalantly. Sojiro furrowed his brow at Ren and let out another sigh.

“Anyway, let’s get going. If we leave quickly, we might be able to avoid the traffic.” He said; Ren nodded in agreement. Before they left, Ren ran back upstairs to grab his skateboard and followed Sojiro out the café.

“You’re seriously taking that with you?” Sojiro asked’

“Yep.” Ren responded. Sojiro just stared blankly at him.

The two walked to Sojiro’s car and began their drive to Shujin Academy. Ren and Sojiro hadn’t said a word during the ride to the school. Sojiro just kept his eyes on the road while Ren passed the time listening to music on his phone. Despite Ren wearing earphones, Sojiro was still able to hear some of the music; more of the same loud rock music Ren played him the previous day. The ride to school fortunately didn’t take very long since they were able to dodge most of the early morning traffic. After Sojiro found a spot to park and the two of them made their way into the school. The two were silent until Sojiro spoke up

“Do me a favor and behave yourself, all right?” He asked, “Yumi cares a lot about you, and the last thing I want to do is have her worrying about you causing trouble at your new school.”

“Yessir!” Ren replied, giving Sojiro a salute. Sojiro just let out a sigh as the two made their way to the principal’s office.

Ren and Sojiro entered and were met with two people waiting for them at a desk. One was a woman a little shorter than Ren, with frizzy brown hair that was quite similar to his. She looked to be in her mid-to-late twenties, and wore a long-sleeved yellow sweater and a denim blue skirt.

“She’s pretty cute.” Ren thought to himself.

His gaze then shifted to the short, rotund man sitting behind the desk. He was bald and wore a mustard yellow suit and a red bow tie. Ren had to hold back a snicker at the sight of the man; he thought he’d seen fat guys in America, but this guy took the cake, literally.

“Ah, you must be Amamiya-san and Sakura-san.” Said the man. He took a glance at Ren’s clothes and immediately began frowning.

“Amamiya-san, is there a reason as to why you are not adhering to our school’s dress code?” He asked.

“Yes.” Ren replied.

The principal looked at Ren, expecting him to follow up on his answer, when nothing came, he asked

“Care to tell me why?”

“Nah.” Ren replied with smug grin.

The principal was taken aback at the teen’s response, growing slightly irritated by the gall of the boy in front of him. He then proceeded to give the teen a long winded speech about respect and the importance of following school rules and the like; the typical school principal spiel when addressing problem children. Ren barely payed any attention to it though, focusing more at trying to not roll his eyes at the talking pile of lard in front of him.

“To reiterate, just so we’re clear, you will immediately be expelled if you cause any problems. Honestly, I hesitated on accepting someone like you, but there were some circumstances on our side…” Stated the principal.

“Lucky me.” Ren mumbled under his breath.

“You might have done a variety things in hiding back in your hometown, but you will behave yourself here. If you are thrown out from our school, there will be no place for you to go. Keep that in mind.” The principal said in a rather threatening tone.

 _“Whatever you say, Principal Fat-ass.”_ Ren replied in his native tongue.

“What was that?” The principal asked.

“I said ‘I understand’” Ren said with the same smug grin on his face.

The teacher to the right of the desk let out a soft chuckle, to which only Ren seemed to have noticed.

“Seems she may have understood what I said.” Ren thought to himself, still grinning.

“I see, well… This is the teacher in charge of your class.” The principal gestured to the lady at his side.

“I’m Sadayo Kawakami.” She said. She reached her hand over towards Ren, holding a card. Ren extended his hand towards hers, taking the card.

“That is you’re student ID. Be sure to read the school rules, any violations will send you straight to the guidance office. And, if by chance you cause any problems, I won’t be able to protect you at all.” Said Ms. Kawakami, she then turned her head towards the principle

“…That is your promise, right, Principal Kobayakawa?” She added on.

“Yes, he is responsible for all his actions,” Stated the principal.

“Okay, if you’re done explaining things, can I finish the last bit of paperwork so we can get going?” Sojiro cut in. “I’ve got a business to run, you know.”

“Yes, of course.” Kobayakawa said as he slid a piece of paper and a pen towards Sojiro, to which he quickly filled out.

“Sakura-san, I ask that you please keep a close eye on him. Don’t let him cause any trouble outside…” Kobayakawa said before he was cut off by Sojiro.

“Yeah yeah, I’ve already spoken to him about the situation he’s in. We’re both tired of listening to lectures, so can we please leave?” Sojiro asked, but with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Kobayakawa looked at Sojiro with a slightly surprised look on his face.

“Ah yes, very well. You two may now leave.” Kobayakawa said, voice pitched just slightly higher than before.

Sojiro gave a small bow as he left, Ren just walked out the door. The two made their way to the entrance and Sojiro let out a deep sigh.

“Jeez, I knew you were a bit of a troublemaker, but you could’ve at least tried to make a better first impression.” Said Sojiro.

“Yeah, sorry. But Principal Kobaya the Hutt could’ve at least pretended to hide his contempt for me.” Replied Ren.

“Kobaya the what?”

“Kobaya the Hutt, you know, like Jabba the Hutt… From Star Wars?”

“…”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t seen Star Wars, Boss?”

“…”

“…”

“Anyway, what say we head back home?” Sojiro said, attempting to change the subject.

“You can head back without me, I was gonna head to Shibuya. I heard there was this kickass skatepark near Station Square.” Replied Ren.

“Ah, so that’s why you brought that skateboard with you.” Said Sojiro.

“Yeah, so is it fine if I go?” Asked Ren.

“I don’t mind, but the trains are still down because of that accident the other day. Will you be able to make it back home before it gets too late?” Sojiro asked.

“Accident? What happened?” Ren asked, eyes widening.

“The news said something about “Psychotic Breakdowns.” Apparently people have suddenly been losing their minds. I don’t really know all the details myself, but a train conductor was said to have had a breakdown and ended up crashing the train.” Sojiro explained.

“Yikes, sounds pretty bad. Don’t worry about me though, I’ll make a plan.” Replied Ren.

The two then went their separate ways. Sojiro to Yongen and Ren to Shibuya. The trains were down, but that didn’t bother Ren in the slightest, it just meant he had more time to skate. Ever since the court case, Ren could barely even touch his board. It had been a good few weeks since he was last able to skate like this, and for the first time in what felt like forever, Ren felt genuinely happy. Speeding down the sidewalk, bobbing and weaving past pedestrians, kicking off the pavement and grinding on rails, hearing the flustered shrieks of adults thinking he would crash into them and narrowly dodging them, seeing the looks of awe kids would give him as he passed them by, all of it filled Ren with a sense of glee and a bit of pride. You could say that skating was like therapy to Ren, and it was something that he desperately needed right now.

Ren arrived at Shibuya’s Station Square, a central hub in Shibuya that connected all the train lines. The foot traffic was fairly high for a Sunday, so Ren slowly made his way through the crowds of people, board in hand and made his way the skate park.

When Ren arrived at the skatepark, there was a large crowd gathered near the entrance. Ren didn’t see anyone holding any skateboards or the like, but he did hear the clicking of cameras and the ogling noises of the crowd. Ren tried to ignore the crowd and make his way to the bowl but he suddenly found his gaze locked on the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had long, platinum blonde pigtails, and the most glistening blue eyes. She sported a black crop top with a pink heart on it, denim blue short shorts, and black Converse shoes. She looked to be modeling for one of the cameramen. Ren continued to stand and stare, not once taking his eyes off the blonde beauty. After a couple of minutes, Ren shook his head, attempting to force himself out of his little stupor. He walked past the crowd, straight to the big bowl in the center of the park. Ren quickly pulled out his phone and earphones and went to his music library.

_‘Now Playing: Last Caress – The Misfits’_

Ren smirked as he dropped his board to his feet, he placed his right foot on the board and pushed back with his left. As Ren approached the rim of the bowl, he crouched down and performed a simple ollie, launching himself into the air and landing down the side of the bowl. Ren was blazing down the bowl with the extra momentum, as he approached the brim on the other end, he bent his legs to prep himself for a trick that he had on lock. Ren placed his hand down on the brim of the bowl and proceeded to lift his body up. He had one hand and both feet on the board, well over his head. Ren quickly bent his arm and landed back into the bowl with both feet still on the board, successfully making the handplant. Ren then spent the next couple of minutes doing various other tricks and jamming to his music, not noticing the small crowd he was beginning to attract.

Ren hadn’t paid attention to how much time had passed, but he did notice the various songs that were shuffling on his playlist; he’s been listening to about thirty minutes worth of music. Ren decided now would be a good time to end his little skate session; he placed his left foot firmly on the ground, his shoe skidded on the ground for a bit as he slowed himself down. Once Ren stopped completely, he slammed his foot on the tail of the board, launching it into the air and catching it on his hand. Ren climbed out of the bowl and to his surprise, there were a few people watching and recording him with their phones. Ren pulled out his earphones and was about to say something until he noticed the blonde haired girl from earlier was amoungst the crowd of people.

“Uh… H-Hey.” Ren muttered with a small wave.

The girl simply smiled and waved at him, making Ren blush profusely; something that rarely ever happened to him.

“Hi, you were pretty cool out there. Are you like, a pro skater?” She asked.

“Well, I’m no Rodney Mullen, but I like to think I’m pretty skilled when it comes to this stuff.” Ren replied as coolly as possible, cheeks still tinged with pink. The girl, giggled in response.

“I couldn’t help notice your outfit, is that a Shujin uniform?” She asked.

“O-Oh, yeah. I actually just transferred there. I had to go in today to meet the principal and I’ll be starting tomorrow.” Ren replied.

“Oh, that’s nice… I actually go there too.” She said with a smile, but Ren couldn’t help but notice the subtle change in her demeanor, as if talking about Shujin was a sore spot for her.

 _“Something wrong?”_ Ren asked, unintentionally speaking in English.

“No, I’m… Wait, did you just speak English?” The girl asked, completely taken aback by Ren’s response.

 _“Uh, yeah… Wait, can you speak it too?”_ Ren asked, to which the girl excitedly nodded.

 _“Yep, I’m actually a quarter-American, so I learnt the language when I was pretty young.”_ The girl responded in English as well.

 _“Oh? I’m actually American too. I grew up in Seattle, I kinda just moved here, literally just yesterday.”_ Ren replied.

 _“Oh wow, that’s so cool. How’s your first day in Japan been?”_ She asked.

 _“Well, I did get to meet this super cute blonde girl with pigtails, so I’d say it’s been pretty great.”_ Ren replied with a wink, gradually feeling more confident from speaking in his native language. Ren smirked when he noticed the girl started to blush.

 _“My name is Ren Amamiya, by the way, and you?”_ Asked Ren.

 _“Oh, um… My name is Ann… Ann Takamaki.”_ She was able to responded, albeit very flustered.

 _“Nice to meet you, Takamaki-san. Are you busy right now? If not, I know this really nice café in Yongen. Maybe we could head there and talk a bit more?”_ Ren suggested, turning the charm up to the max. Ann stared back at him, cheeks as red as a tomato.

 _“Um, sure, that sounds great. I just finished doing my photoshoot too, so I’m pretty much free for the rest of the day.”_ Ann said while trying to calm herself down. Ren let out a soft laugh.

 _“Alright then. Come on, follow me.”_ Said Ren as he reached his hand out for her to hold.

Ann hesitated for a moment, not sure if she should take his hand or not; she glanced back up to Ren’s face and saw his calm grey eyes and his playful little smirk and all her nerves just seemed to wash away. She smiled and took Ren’s hand and two were on their way. The trains were unavailable, so Ren hailed them a taxi and the two were off to Yongen-Jaya. The two spent the ride chatting away; discussing things like their hobbies, taste in music, favorite brand of shoes, etcetera. Things were going well, and Ren was able to learn a quite a bit about his new friend. The taxi eventually stopped in Yongen, the two got out and Ren led her to the little hidden away café. The bell above the door jingled as they entered, grabbing the attention of a goateed barista who was busy working on a crossword puzzle.

“Ah, you’re back. How was Shibuya? You didn’t have any trou-“ Sojiro cut himself off as he noticed a blonde haired girl entered alongside Ren.

“Hey Boss.” Ren said, waving a hand at Sojiro.

Sojiro stared for a moment, then a knowing grin spread across his face.

“Who’s your friend?” He asked.

“Ah, this is Ann Takamaki. I met her today while I was skating.” Ren replied.

“Hello.” Ann said with a bow, “This is a really nice café you have sir, I really like the vibe that it gives off.”

Sojiro just continued smiling, taking a quick glance at Ren before turning his attention back to Ann.

“Pleasure to meet you, Takamaki-san. Why don’t you two have a seat and I’ll serve up some coffee for you two.” Sojiro suggested.

“Thanks Boss.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Please, just call me Boss; everyone else here does.”

“Okay, thank you, Boss!” Ann said, bowing again.

The two sat across from each other in the middle booth, chatting away while Sojiro brought them their coffee.

“Wow, this coffee tastes amazing!” Exclaimed Ann, “Alright, I think I found my new go-to café.”

“I’m glad you like it, and please, come again anytime.” Said Sojiro as he went back behind the counter.

The two continued their own conversation as Sojiro started cleaning some cups.

“Hey, Ren-kun; if you don’t mind me asking, why did you move to Tokyo?” Asked Ann. Ren nearly choked on his coffee and he felt his whole body freeze at her question.

“It’s uh… A family issue. So I’m staying with my uncle, Boss, for the next year.” Ren said, trying his best to not mention his probation.

“Oh, Boss is your uncle? I had no idea.” Ann responded.

“Yeah, he’s my mom’s cousin. They both grew up here in Japan, but she wanted to study abroad after high school, so she moved to America. That was around the time she met my dad too.” Said Ren.

“Aw, that’s cute. So they both met in college?” Ann responded.

“Yep. They met when they were around eighteen and have been together for the last twenty-four years now.”

“Oh hey, my parents actually met in college too. My dad is from Finland and my mom is Japanese. They both went to Los Angeles to study.”

“Your dad’s Finnish? But your last name is Takamaki.”

“I know, it sounds Japanese, but it’s actually Finnish. It’s a fairly common name over there.”

“Huh, that’s interesting. You ever heard of Arto Saari?”

“No, can’t say I have. I’m guessing it’s related to skateboarding though.”

“Right on the money. He was a pro-skater from Finland, and was on the cover of _‘Thrasher’_ a couple of times. Dude was legit, one of the best skaters I’ve seen in my life.”

“ _Thrasher_? I think I’ve heard of them before. Are they a magazine?”

“Originally, yeah. They’re one of the biggest skating brands out there. It used to be pretty underground back in the day, but they’ve become pretty mainstream now. It’s kind of been a dream of mine to be on the cover one day.” Ren said bashfully, to which Ann giggled slightly.

The two continued their chat until the late afternoon, when Ann had to leave before it started getting dark. Ren walked her out the café and towards the road so he could hail her a cab.

“Today was really nice Ren-kun. I had a lot of fun talking with you today, and the coffee was amazing too, I’m definitely coming here again.” Said Ann.

“It’s been great hanging out for me too, and please, come again whenever you want. Also, you can drop the “kun”, just Ren is fine.” Ren said with a wink, causing Ann to blush.

“I-If that’s okay with you… Ren… Well then you can just call me Ann, too!” She said, while trying her best to not sound flustered, to which Ren chuckled.

“Sure thing, Ann. See you at school tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow!” She beamed.

“Oh, before you go, think I could get your number?” Ren said with a devilish grin. Ann looked even more flustered than she did before, and Ren just found her all the more cuter.

“Oh… Uh… Sure, just gimme a sec!” Ann said excitedly as she searched for her phone in her purse.

After exchanging contact information Ren called over a taxi to take Ann back to her place. Ren watched her leave and with a triumphant smile on his face, made his way back to Leblanc. The bell jingled as Ren entered and Sojiro gave him a knowing grin.

“Hoo boy, you sure don’t waste time.” Sojiro said. Ren just shrugged.

“She’s just a friend, Boss. I just met her today, after all.”

“Heh, well she looks like a really nice girl, and from the looks of it, she definitely seems to like you. Just try not to blow your chance kid, or else you might just spend the rest of your life regretting it.” Stated Sojiro.

“Speaking from experience, Boss?” Ren questioned, jokingly. Sojiro just looked down and sighed, his cheerful demeanor changing to one of sadness. Ren noticed immediately.

“Oh, sorry Boss. Didn’t realize that was a sore spot for you.” Ren said, sympathetically.

“Don’t worry about it, kid. Anyway, it’s getting late, I’m gonna head out, so don’t forget to lock up later.” Said Sojiro.

“Sure thing, Boss. Goodnight.” Replied Ren.

Sojiro left he café and Ren went up to his room to relax in his bed. He pulled out his phone and smiled when he saw who had texted him… Ann.

**Ann:** Hey Ren. Just wanted to say thanks for today again. School’s been stressing me out a lot lately, so being able to relax and hang out with someone was a nice change of pace

 **Ren:** No problem. I was kinda anxious about school tomorrow, but knowing I’ll have someone to hang out with definitely puts my mind at ease

 **Ann:** Speaking of school… do you know who’s class you’re in?

 **Ren:** Kawakami

 **Ann:** Oh hey, I’m in her class too! This is perfect!

 **Ren:** Oh sweet. Now I’m even more excited for tomorrow

 **Ann:** Careful Ren, you might just give a girl the wrong idea :P

 **Ren:** Whatever could you mean, Ann? ٩(˘◡˘)۶

 **Ann:** Don’t tease me like that (ง︡'-'︠)ง

 **Ren:** (ᵔᴥᵔ)

 **Ren:** Anyway, it’s getting late. I’m gonna hit the bath house and head to bed.

 **Ann:** Alright, goodnight Ren ｡◕‿‿◕｡

 **Ren:** Goodnight Ann

Ren put his phone back into his pocket. He took out some clothes and headed for the bath house. Once he was done, he made his way back up to the attic and crashed down onto his bed.

“Today sure was eventful.” He thought to himself. After the initial bad impression Ren had of Shujin, he was actually excited to go tomorrow, mainly because of Ann, but he was excited nonetheless. After a few minutes of relaxing in his bed he passed out, resting up for the very busy day he would have tomorrow.


	3. London Dungeon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Song is In London Dungeon by The Misfits

_11/04/2016_

_Tokyo, Japan_

_Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya_

**_*Beep Beep*_ **

**_*Beep Beep*_ **

****

Ren groggily woke up to the sound of his phone’s alarm. He quickly grabbed it and turned the alarm off; suddenly he realized he was actually woken up by his alarm and not because of that weird dream in the blue room again. He got out of his bed and scratched his head.

“Huh… Never thought I’d feel this relieved to hear my alarm in the morning.” Ren thought to himself. He went over to his cardboard box and put on his uniform, not heeding the dress code, yet again. Ren went down to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. When he got out, he saw Sojiro had come in and was already behind the counter.

“Morning, Boss.” Greeted Ren.

“Ah, morning kid. Glad to see you’re up already.” Sojiro replied, “Here, I’ve got today’s curry ready. Have a seat so I can make you breakfast.”

“Thanks, just gimme a sec. Lemme pack my bag for the day.” Ren said as he went upstairs. He grabbed his bag, board and phone and walked back down, taking a seat at the counter and was given a plate of curry. Ren ate with gusto, licking his lips after finishing his meal. He thanked Sojiro for the meal, slung his bag over his shoulder, grabbed his board and dashed through the door.

Ren rode his skateboard to the station and hopped onto a train to Shibuya’s Station Square. The trains were up and running again, and they were insanely packed.

“Christ, I heard trains in Japan were packed, but this is fucking nuts.” Ren muttered to himself.

After a couple of minutes, Ren reached his destination. He got out of the train and ended up in the underground walkway, he had to transfer onto the Ginza line to get to Aoyama-Itchome. After navigating his way through the dense crowds, he was able to find the Ginza line. Ren was waiting for the train to arrive when he overheard a group of students talking about him.

“Hey, is that guy the new transfer student?” Asked a short, black haired girl.

“I think so. He’s supposed to be a second year, and I don’t think I’ve seen him around school before.” Replied a brown haired boy.

“He’s got to be. Look at his uniform; he’s definitely trouble, just like the rumors said.” Replied the girl. Ren turned his head towards them and they immediately froze when they made eye contact.

“What’s this about rumors?” Ren asked the two students. They remained silent, staring down at the ground. Ren would’ve pressed them for more information, but the train had just pulled in. He sighed and boarded the train.

While on the train, Ren was lost in his own thoughts.

“People are already spreading rumors about me? It’s not like I care about that crap, but it would’ve been nice to not have people immediately be labeling me.” He thought to himself. Ren was suddenly broken from his thoughts when he bumped into another passenger.

“Shit, sorry. My bad.” Ren apologized.

“Ah, no worries. I was not paying attention to my surroundings, so it is partially my fault as well. Replied the other passenger.

Ren looked the passenger from head to toe. It was a young man, around Ren’s age. He had long disheveled brown hair, wore a white shirt, striped tie and an olive blazer as well as black pants, shoes and gloves. That was fairly normal, but what caught Ren’s attention was the steel briefcase he was carrying.

“What’s a kid like you doing hauling around a briefcase?” Ren questioned the messy haired boy.

“Oh, this?” He said, lifting the briefcase up, “I need it for work.”

“Most kids our age usually work at a 7-11 or a restaurant or something. Pretty sure they don’t need briefcases there.” Ren replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, I’m not like most kids.” The boy replied with a smirk.

“Uh-huh… Why did you make that sound so ominous?” Ren asked, lightly chuckling.

“Did I? I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable, that was not my intention.”

“No sweat dude, but I gotta ask, what’s the briefcase for? You work part-time as an accountant or something?”

“Detective, actually. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of me, I’ve appeared on TV a few times before. Some people have even dubbed me the “Second coming of the Detective Prince.”

“Err, I’m not really sure how things work here in Japan, but is it even legal to allow a teenager to be a detective?”

“In most instances no, but I’ve been given special permission to continue my work due to my high rate of success on cases. Also, if you don’t mind me asking, are you not from Japan? Your Japanese is spot-on and your ethnicity is Asian, correct?”

“Yeah, I’m actually from the U.S; but anyway, what’s this about being on TV?”

“Oh, it’s nothing too spectacular, just a few TV interviews here and there. Ah, where are my manners? I haven't even introduced myself.” The boy berated himself.

“It’s cool man, don’t sweat it. My name is Ren Amamiya by the way.” Ren said as he extended his fist towards him.

“And I am Goro Akechi, pleasure to meet you.” He said as he shook Ren’s closed fist. Ren just looked at the boy, completely baffled.

“Uh… You’re supposed pound it with your fist, not shake it.” Ren said as he chuckled, to which Akechi just looked at him in confusion. The two began making idle chit-chat until the train reached its destination. Ren said his goodbyes to the boy and hopped off the train.

As Ren made his way out of the station, it began raining.

“Oh for fuck’s sake! Really?” Ren said, frustrated and scrambling for cover. He managed to find an awning to shield himself from the rain. Ren pulled out his phone to check the time, it was still fairly early, if he made a run for it he would be able to make it on time, but he then noticed the red eyeball app on his phone.

“Oh yeah, I still haven’t checked this thing out yet.” He said as he tapped the app. Before the app loaded, Ren noticed someone walk past him and took cover from the rain under the awning. It was a girl who looked to be wearing a Shujin uniform, and just like his, it was breaking school dress code. She had a hooded-up varsity hoodie underneath her blazer with the sleeves rolled up, the plaid Shujin skirt was mostly covered by her hoodie as well. She also wore bright red leggings and brown boots. Ren found himself staring; he couldn’t put his finger on it, but he felt like he had met her before, and then she pulled her hood down, and Ren started blushing slightly when he realized who it was… Ann.

_“Hey there, Goldilocks.”_ Ren said in English, gaining Ann’s attention. She turned to Ren and her face was beaming.

 _“Oh, Morning Ren!”_ She said, full of energy, earning a smile from Ren.

 _“Guess we both took some liberties with our uniform.”_ Ren chuckled, Ann giggled at his comment. The rain and the rumors about him were putting a damper on Ren’s day, but seeing Ann this happy instantly lifted his spirits.

 _“And I guess neither of us brought an umbrella.”_ She responded.

 _“Yeah, and the weather report didn’t say anything about rain either. I’ve got my board in my bag, I was thinking I could probably use it to shield myself from the rain, but that would barely cover me.”_ Ren said as he and Ann continued to giggle.

**_*Honk Honk*_ **

****

Ren and Ann’s focus immediately shifted towards the direction of the honking. There was a man in a car with a cartoonishly square-shaped chin and a mop of curly hair.

“Hey there, need a lift?” The man asked, “You’re gonna be late you know.”

Ren couldn’t see Ann’s face, but he noticed her body stiffen up.

“Uh… yeah, thanks.” Replied Ann, all her energy from earlier, gone.

“Alright, what about you, curly-hair?” He asked Ren. Before He could respond, Ann turned to him with pleading eyes, and shook her head at him, signaling him not to accept. Ren’s face was a mixture of confused and concerned, trying to find out why Ann didn’t want him to join them in the car. Ren looked back at the man and saw the look on his face, he had a smug grin and was undressing Ann with his eyes. He wanted to go along with them to make sure he didn’t do anything to her, but seeing the look on Ann’s face told him to drop it; against Ren’s better judgement, he did.

“Nah, It’s fine, I’ll just walk.” Ren reluctantly replied. He watched as Ann got into the car with the man and he saw the depressed look on her face. Ren just felt sick. He knew something bad was going on, but he couldn’t do anything about it, so he just grit his teeth and clenched his fists, nearly crushing his phone in the process. As the car left he heard the sound of footsteps behind him, before he could turn around a blonde haired boy dashed past him, cursing at the car that just left.

“ARGH! SCREW THAT PERVY TAECHER!” He yelled.

“Pervy teacher?” Ren questioned, the blonde noticed Ren’s comment and walked up to him.

“What? You gonna rat me out to Kamoshida too?”

“The fuck is Kamoshida?”

“Wha- are you for real dude?

“Was Kamoshida the guy in the car just now?”

“Yeah, do you really not know who he is?”

“I’m new to Shujin. Today’s my first day, but anyway, who’s Kamoshida and what is he doing with Ann?” Ren asked anxiously, the boy just looked at him in surprise.

“Huh, how do you know Ann?”

“Doesn’t matter, tell me about that fucking mop head, Kamoshida!” Ren said, anger levels rising, startling the blonde.

“Uh… His name is Suguru Kamoshida. He’s the P.E teacher at Shujin, but the bastard does whatever the hell he wants and then he acts all high and mighty like he’s the king of a freakin’ castle!”

**_*Candidate Recognized*_ **

**_*Beginning Navigation*_ **

****

Ren and the blonde boy suddenly clutched their heads as they were both hit with a slight migraine.

“Argh, the hell was that?” Asked the boy.

“Fuck if I know. Let’s just get to school. I want to make sure Ann’s okay.” Replied Ren.

“Seriously dude, are you a friend of hers?” The blonde asked.

“What’s it to you?” Ren replied, slightly annoyed.

“Okay man, just chill. Anyway, follow me. I know a shortcut to the school.” The boy said.

The blonde began walking and Ren followed suite. They turned into an alleyway and continued walking, but Ren felt something off; he stopped to look around the alley, but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. He then continued walking. The two teens exited the alley and were expecting to see the entrance to Shujin Academy, but were instead met with a large castle.

“What the hell?” The boy yelled.

“What’s a castle doing in Tokyo?” Ren asked.

“I don’t freakin’ know, dude.” He replied.

“Are you sure this is the school? Did we maybe take a wrong turn?” Ren questioned the boy.

“But we came the right way though, and the sign says ‘Shujin’ too!” The boy exclaimed

“Let’s just head inside.” Ren said as he walked on, the blonde boy followed closely behind.

The two boys entered the castle through the front doors, and walked into a large foyer decorated with fancy chandeliers, ornate columns and expensive rugs.

“That’s weird… Where’s the school?” Asked the boy.

“You sure we didn’t take a wrong turn?” Replied Ren.

“N-No! This has to be it!” Exclaimed the boy, “I mean, it… Should be…”

The blonde boy pulled out his phone to check where they were.

“Out of service? Where’d we end up?” He muttered.

Ren just let out a sigh. Suddenly, he noticed the sound of footsteps and turned to his side, thinking it might be another student or a teacher, but to his surprise, it was a massive suit of armor.

“Jeez, you freaked me out… Who’re you? You a student?” Asked the blonde, as he began approaching the armor.

“Man, your costume’s impressive… Is that armor real?” He asked. The armor just stood in silence.

“C’mon, don’t just stand there. Say somethin’.” While the blonde was talking, another suit of armor walked up to them. Ren walked to the other boy's side, placing a hand on his shoulder. The boy turned to face Ren.

“H-Hey, what’s goin’ on?” The blonde boy nervously asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.” Coolly replied Ren. The two suits of armor slowly started approaching the boys.

“Hey, c-calm down man!” The boy shouted, “We gotta run!”

“Way ahead of you!” Ren said as he began heading the other direction. The pair didn’t get far before they were intercepted by two more guards in armor.

“What’s with these guys!?” The boy yelled, before he was suddenly knocked out by one of the guards.

“SHIT! BLONDIE!” Ren shouted, running to the boys side. He tried carrying him away, but was quickly detained by one of the guards.

“Let go of me you asshole! I swear to God, I’m gonna kick all your asses if you don’t let me go!” Ren continued shouting profanities at the guards while trying to break from their grasp, to no avail. The two teens were dragged deeper into the castle, down a flight of stairs and through a myriad of passages and hallways until they were both thrown into a cell. Ren quickly got up, charging at the cell door with his shoulder, using his full body weight to force the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. The guards had already locked the door before Ren could react. Ren just eyed the guards as they walked away from his cell, once they were gone, He began frantically searching for a way to escape, after about half an hour of searching, Ren sighed and sat down against a wall, resigning himself to his fate. After about another half hour of waiting, the blonde boy stirred awake.

“Oh hey, look who finally decided to wake up.” Ren said sarcastically.

“Huh? The hell am I?” He groggily replied.

“A prison cell. Those guards knocked you out and dragged us here.” Ren replied back. The boy got up from the wooden bed he was lying on and walked up to the bars of the cell.

“Be glad that your punishment has been decided upon.” Came an unknown voice, catching both their attention. Ren was immediately on high alert when he saw the guard approach their cell.

“Your charge is ‘unlawful entry’. Thus you will be sentenced to death.” The guard continued.

“Say what!?” Uttered the blonde.

Suddenly, a new, yet somewhat familiar voice rang through the cell and surrounding area.

“No one’s allowed to do as they please in my castle.” It said.

“That voice…” Ren muttered, looking past the guard to see who it came from. To his surprise, it came from the mop-haired bastard himself, Kamoshida. Ren was shocked to see the man, but what shocked him more was his clothes… or rather, the lack of it. He wore a crown atop his head, a red cape adorned with pink hearts, a pink speedo that would forever haunt Ren’s dreams, and a pair of brown shoes. What also caught Ren’s attention was his glowing yellow eyes, it reminded him of the twins he had in that strange dream from the other night. Ren wondered if the two were somehow related.

“Huh? Wait… Is that you, Kamoshida?” The boy asked.

“Huh, I thought it was another petty thief that managed to sneak into my castle, but to think it would be you, Sakamoto…” Kamoshida grinned, looking down at the boy. “Are you trying to disobey me again? It seems you haven’t learned your lesson at all, hmm?” He continued. Ren just gripped his hands around the bars, causing his knuckles to turn white. He tried to keep a level head, waiting for a chance to try and escape. Kamoshida noticed him, and turned to face the curly haired teen.

“Ah, it looks like you brought a friend this time… Because you can’t do anything yourself.” Stated Kamoshida.

“Hey, this ain’t funny, you asshole!” Exclaimed Sakamoto.

“Is that how you speak to a king? It seems you don’t understand the position you’re in at all. Not only did you sneak into my castle, you committed the crime of insulting me-the king. The punishment for that… Is death.” Kamoshida said with a grin. He raised his hand, gesturing for the guard to open the door.

“It’s time for an execution! Take him out!” He commanded. The guards followed and unlocked the cell door, walked in and quickly surrounded the two boys.

“S-stop it!” Stuttered Sakamoto, fear evident in his voice. He braced himself and charged towards one of the guards, knocking him over with his shoulder. Taking Ren, Kamoshida and the other guards by surprise.

“I ain’t down for this shit! C’mon, we’re outta here!” He yelled.

Before either teen could react, another guard approached Sakamoto and hit him in the stomach with the pommel of his sword, winding the teen and bringing him down to his knees. Ren tried to hold the guard back, but it was useless, the guard was far too strong to be pulled back by a lanky teenager like Ren.

“Just go! Get outta here! These guys are serious!” Sakamoto muttered, trying to steady his breathing. Kamoshida turned his attention from Sakamoto towards Ren.

“Oh? Running away are we? What a heartless friend you are.” He said, still holding that smug grin.

“Fuck that! I’m not leaving him!” Ren shouted, earning a surprised look from the boy.

“Ah, playing hero now, are we? Well, not that it matters, you’re both gonna die here.” Kamoshida said with a chuckle. “Guards, pin him to the wall so he gets to watch his friend die, first hand!” He ordered, to which the guards complied without hesitation. Two of the guards grabbed Ren and pushed him up against the wall, blades drawn towards his neck. The metal was cold and sharp, pressed right against his throat, any sudden move and he would get cut. One of the other guards had restrained both of Sakamoto’s arms, preventing him from moving or even defending himself, to which Kamoshida took full advantage of, taking several cheap shots at the blonde boy’s unguarded face. All Ren could do was watch in horror as his supposed high school P.E teacher was about to murder one of his classmates.

Kamoshida continued beating the boy till he fell to his knees again. Kamoshida ordered a guard to draw his sword, and held it atop Sakamoto’s head.

“Stop this! Are you a fucking psychopath?” Screamed Ren, earning a glare from Kamoshida.

“What? Don’t you dare tell me you don’t know who I am.” He asked, walking towards Ren, till he was right up in his face. Ren spat in his eye, causing Kamoshida to wince and step away from him.

“You damn brat! Fine then, you’ll be first on the chopping block then!” Exclaimed Kamoshida. The guards removed their blades from Ren’s throat and he was kicked to the floor. Kamoshida just laughed.

Ren was now staring death in the face, his whole life flashing before his eyes. Memories of his life in Seattle, his family and friends, the time he spent in jail before his conviction, that day he enjoyed with Ann, all of them began flooding in his mind. His head was spinning, but suddenly, he heard a soft and gentle voice, putting his mind at ease. For a brief moment, time seemed to stop, and he heard the voice again.

_“This truly is an unjust game…”_ The voice said. Ren looked for the source, and noticed a blue butterfly flutter past his head.

 _“Your chances of winning are almost none.”_ It continued, _“But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you…”_

The voice was gone, but was followed by another, although this one was much deeper.

**_“What’s the matter? Are you simply going to die here? Do you truly accept such a fate?”_** Asked the voice.

**_“What about the fate of your friend there? If you perish here, so will he!”_ **

****

**_“Death awaits you both if you do not act swiftly.”_ **

****

**_“What happened to the boy that rebelled against injustice? The one who would fight to protect their loved ones? The one who would help those in need, regardless of your own safety?”_ **

****

The memories of Ren’s life back home came back again, stronger than before. A memory of how he broke a rib rescuing a cat from a tree as a child entered his mind, followed by the memory of when he fought a group of bullies for harassing a young girl in his class, and another from when he knocked the teeth out of a creepy guy on the train, trying to touch his sister. Memories kept popping in and out of Ren’s mind, until the most recent one… The one that got him convicted. The night he stopped a man from forcing himself onto a woman and how he ended up arrested and sent on probation.

**_“Was your previous decision a mistake then?_** The voice bellowed. Ren just grinned.

“Hell no it wasn’t!” He yelled out to the voice, to which it chuckled back.

 ** _“Very well… I have heeded your resolve.”_** The voice responded.

Ren suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, painful enough to bring Ren to gasp and cry out in pain.

**_“Vow to me.”_** The voice began. Ren continued to convulse.

**_“I am thou, thou art I…_ **

**_Thou who art willing to rebel against this world in the name of thine own justice!_ **

**_Call upon my name, and release thy rage!_ **

**_Show the strength to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!”_ **

Ren looked up, he was in immense pain, but a sly grin was able to form on his face.

“Execute him!” Kamoshida commanded. The guard began approaching Ren, sword in the air, ready to come down on him.

“Hey Kamoshida!” Ren roared, slowly getting back to his feet, he raised both his hands and flipped him off, “GO FUCK YOURSELF!” Ren screamed at the top of his lungs. A sudden gust of wind shot from Ren’s body, sending the guards and Kamoshida stumbling back. Kamoshida looked at the teen, completely at a loss at what just happened. He looked the teen in the eye, but was surprised to see his face was hidden by a mask… A hockey mask, with a bloody hand print covering most of it.

Ren noticed the extra weight that was now attached to his head and began feeling his face. Ren placed his right hand directly over the handprint and began pulling it off. It hurt like crazy, but he couldn’t stop himself, it was like picking off a scab. After a few hard pulls, it came off, leaving Ren’s face covered in blood, but it didn’t hurt, it actually rejuvenated him more than anything. Ren’s body was suddenly engulfed in blue flames, he felt no pain, instead, he felt a surge of power enter his body. Once the flames had dissipated, Ren noticed he was no longer in his uniform. He had a white wife-beater and a black zip-up hoodie with the sleeves rolled up, elbow pads, as well as blood red leather gloves with the finger cut off. Over the hoodie was a sleeveless, black denim jacket with sharp spikes on his shoulders. Ren’s lower half consisted of black denim jeans that hugged the frame of his legs, on his feet were studded leather boots that went up to his shins. All-in-all, Ren looked like a cross between a punk-rocker and a slasher horror movie villain. Sakamoto stared on from the side, he was in complete awe of what had transpired, Kamoshida on the other hand was afraid, for he had no idea what he was witnessing, but he knew it would spell trouble for him and his reign as king. Ren looked at him and flashed a cocky grin, seeing the fear in the man’s eyes. Ren was not done however, he had one more trick up his sleeve.

“Per… So… Na…” He whispered, feeling another surge of strength as he uttered the word. He then heard the voice from earlier, and it reverberated throughout his body.

 ** _“Yes, call upon my name! Take my power!”_** It called out to him, Ren took in a deep breath.

“DOYLE!” Ren roared at the top of his lungs.

Blue flames suddenly spawned from behind Ren, slowly forming into a large humanoid figure. As the flames began to dissipate again, it revealed a large hulking figure. He was a towering muscular man, around ten feet tall, with pale alabaster white skin. He was shirtless and his body was covered in scars, but his arms were wrapped in torn bits of black fabric. He wore skin tight black leather pants and black boots. He had black hair styled in a mohawk, with a long strand that went down his face, past his chin. Then there was his face, or rather, his lack of one. Instead of a face, it just had an exposed skull, there was no gore or flesh sticking out, it was like the skull was merged with the skin of the face. In his right hand, he wielded a large black guitar by its neck. It had all the usual components of a guitar, but the base was replaced with a double bladed axe.

Ren extended his hand and more blue flames spread around it and formed the shape of a blade, when it dissipated it left a machete in Ren’s hand, and he gripped it with all his might.

“D-dude, what the hell is going on here!?” muttered Sakamoto, Ren just tilted his head to face Doyle.

 ** _“I am the rebel’s soul that resides within you. I was called forth by your strong will of rebellion in order to assist you. I shall grant you the power to break through this crisis.”_** Stated Doyle. Ren smirked at him.

“Give me your power.” Ren said coolly.

 ** _“Hmph, very well…”_** He replied.

“Who the hell are you!? Guards, attack!” Kamoshida yelped as he cowardly hid behind one of his guards. The guards approached and burst into a puddle of black goo, turning into a cluster of flying pumpkins.

 ** _“This power of mine is yours! Kill them however you want. Run wild to your hearts content!”_** Doyle bellowed, to which Ren continued to grin.

Ren charged towards the group of five pumpkins, they launched a volley of fireballs at him, but he dodged them all with minimal effort. He jumped against the wall and launched himself into the air, slicing clean through one of the pumpkins like a knife through butter.

“Doyle, Fuck ‘em up!” Ren shouted. Doyle held up his guitar and raised his arm in the air. He dropped his arm and riffed his guitar, shooting a ball of cursed energy at the pumpkins, disintegrating them all as soon as they came into contact with it. Ren and Doyle made short work of the pumpkins and were now left with just Kamoshida, who was quivering in fear on the ground. Ren noticed the keys to the cell were still in the door, so he whistled to Sakamoto, getting his attention.

“Yo, Blondie! Over here!” Ren shouted, to which Sakamoto quickly followed, running out the cell with him. Ren turned around and locked Kamoshida in the cell, and quickly disposed of the keys by chucking them away.

“Yo, dude! What the heck was all that? Where’d that outfit come from!?” Sakamoto said, before Ren could answer, he was engulfed by the blue flames again and was back in his uniform.

“Less talking, more walking.” Ren said coolly as he walked past Sakamoto, trying to retrace his steps from where the guards had dragged him.

“If I remember correctly, I think we came from this way…” Ren said, although a bit unsure. Ren led his blonde friend through a few hallways and jumped over a few ravines, but they didn’t look anywhere close to finding the exit.

“Dammit, where the hell are we, man!? I thought you said you knew the way out?” Said Sakamoto, Ren gave him a dirty look.

“By all means, you lead then.” Ren replied frustratedly. Sakamoto just sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

“S-Sorry… I didn’t mean to get your case, man. I’m just really antsy right now, y’know?” He said. Suddenly, the two teens were interrupted by the sound of a very high-pitched voice.

“Hey, frizzy hair, Blondie; can you two hear me?” It said.

“You hear that?” Asked Ren, the blonde just shrugged.

“Hey, down here!” It said again. The two teens turned towards the noise but all they saw was an empty cell, they then looked down and noticed a small cat-like figure.

“Uhh…” Was the only thing that left Ren’s mouth.

“Hey, frizzy hair, you and your friend are trying to find a way out right? I can help you, just unlock this door.” The cat said.

“Like hell we’d do that! What even are you? Some kind of monster cat?” Questioned Sakamoto.

“I am **not** a cat! I am Morgana.” Stated the small furry creature.

“C’mon dude, let’s just go. We dunno if this thing is an enemy or not!” Muttered Sakamoto.

“But he looks so cute though, no way he’s an enemy.” Ren said as he pet Morgana through the cell.

“H-Hey, where do you think you’re… **prrrr prrrr** …” The cat tried to protest, but gave in to Ren’s petting.

“Dude, what the eff!?”

“What? I like cats.”

“Can we please just leave!?”

“Gimme a sec. Morgana, how do we get you out of here?” Ren asked as he stopped petting him.

“H-Huh? Oh, the keys are right there, up on that hook.” Morgana replied. Ren grabbed the keys from the hook on the wall and unlocked the cell.

“Yes! Freedom at last!” Morgana exclaimed.

“Dude, you sure this is a good idea? Can we really trust this thing? What if he's an enemy?” Asked Sakamoto.

“If he were an enemy, why would he be locked up?” Replied Ren. Sakamoto didn’t have an answer, he just rubbed his neck.

“Mwehehe, at least frizzy hair over here has some common sense.” Morgana said, haughtily.

“Why you little…” Sakamoto muttered, but was cut off by Ren.

“Anyway, which way is out, Morgana?” He asked.

“Ah yes, this way. Follow me!” Morgana said as he led the two teens towards the exit.

It was mostly smooth sailing, Morgana led the duo fairly well, but they stopped when Sakamoto noticed more people trapped in cells.

“Hey, these uniforms… They’re from Shujin! I think more kids got trapped in this place with us!” He yelled.

“What!? No, those aren’t real people. Those are just the rulers cognitions, now keep quiet before…” Morgana tried to say, but was cut off by an ambush from a guard.

“Good job, numbskull! Now we’ve got this to deal with.” Morgana said, clearly annoyed. The cat jumped forward, getting ready for battle when Ren rushed to his side, blue flames engulfing his body, revealing his slasher-punk outfit from earlier.

“Here, let me give you a hand!” Ren said as he approached, hand firmly on his mask. Morgana stared at Ren with wide eyes for a moment, then chuckled.

“Wow, frizzy hair, you’re certainly full of surprises, mwehehe!”

Suddenly, the guard burst into that black goo from earlier and formed into what looked like a fairy and a plant girl.

“Alright frizzy hair, let’s go!” Morgana yelled, “Come… ZORRO!”

In a flash of bright blue flames, a tall humanoid figure clad in black appeared behind Morgana.

“Let ‘em hear you in the cheap seats, Doyle!” Rain said as he pulled off his mask, summoning Doyle behind him.

Morgana guided Ren through the fight, giving him important information about enemy weaknesses and a few other minor things; he also explained to him how personas worked, being the manifestation of one’s image of rebellion. Ren also learned about shadows and palaces from Morgana, which prompted several questions from the boys.

“Yo, Morgana, how do you know about all this stuff? What even are you?” Asked Sakamoto. Morgana just looked down at the ground.

“I… Don’t really know. I remember I was once human, but lost my body and my memories when I became this.” Morgana said as he gestured to his whole body. “I don’t remember much else, apart from the stuff I told you. The whole reason I came to this palace was to try and regain my memories, but then I was captured by Kamoshida’s guards.”

“You’ve got amnesia? You poor thing.” Ren said as he crouched down to scratch Morgana’s head.

“H-Hey stop tha… **prrrrr prrrrr** …”

“Dude, you’re way too comfortable with petting him.” Sakamoto moaned.

“Can you blame me though? He’s adorable, he’s like a little Pokemon.” Ren replied.

After a few minutes of running through the castle, Morgana had brought the teens to a secluded room. He got Sakamoto to break open a window and the two teens were back at the front entrance. They thanked Morgana for his help, and Ren gave him one last good scratch before they made their way out.

“Those two… They might be pretty useful, especially the frizzy haired one.” Morgana said to himself.

Ren and his blonde friend were back out on the streets near Aoyama-Itchome station. Sakamoto was about to say something when Ren noticed two police officers coming their way. Ren quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him to the school. Both teens were exhausted and their bodies sore, and now they had to go to school on top of all that; needless to say, neither teen was looking forward to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Sorry guys, but Arsene will unfortunately not be Ren’s main Persona. I instead chose to base it off Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, former lead guitarist from The Misfits. Hope this decision doesn’t deter anyone from reading any further 😉


	4. Skulls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Song is Skulls by The Misfits

_11/04/2016_

_Tokyo, Japan_

_Shujin Academy, Aoyama-Itchome_

To say Ren’s first day of school was intense would be an understatement. First it was the rumors about him, then it was the rain, then he saw the girl he liked get into a car with some creepy gym teacher, and to top it all off, he got sent to a weird shadow world where he and his classmate nearly got killed. Ren was exhausted beyond belief, and he had not even set foot in school yet. The two teens were running through the alleyway they took earlier and finally made it to school, for real this time. Ren pulled out his phone to check the time, a little over two hours had passed, meaning they missed their first two periods. The boys walked up the stairs of the school and were greeted by a very angry teacher.

“You two! What do you think you’re doing coming to school so late?” Asked the teacher. Sakamoto panicked, but Ren remained calm.

“We’re sorry for coming late, sir. My friend and I were jumped by some thugs on our way to school.” Ren said calmly, as he gestured to the bruises on Sakamoto’s face. “It was pretty bad, but the two of us managed to deal with them.” He continued, winking at his blonde friend.

“Uh… Oh yeah, totally. Those guys tried to mug us, but we’re alright. Jus’ a couple bruises is all.” Sakamoto said, grinning at Ren.

“What’s all the hubbub out here?” Rang a familiar voice. The two teens gulped as the man that tried to kill them in that other strange world approached them.

“Kamoshida!?” Muttered Sakamoto.

“You seem so carefree, Sakamoto.” Said Kamoshida. “Quite a difference from when you did morning practice with the track team.”

“Shut up, it’s your fault that it-“ Sakamoto tried to say, but was cut off by the teacher.

“How dare you speak that was to Mr. Kamoshida!” He exclaimed, “…There’s not much leeway left for you, you know?”

“He’s the one that provoked me!” Replied Sakamoto.

“Do you really want to be expelled?”

“What? This is bullshit!” Sakamoto muttered.

“Come now, I should have been more considerate, too. Let’s just say that we’re both to blame.” Kamoshida chimed in.

“Well, if you say so… Anyway, you two, go to class before you waste any more time.” The teacher replied.

“By the way, you’re that new transfer student, right?” Asked Kamoshida.

“Yep, and you’re the [creepy] guy that gave Ann a lift this morning.” Ren replied.

“Oh right, I remember you now… Well, I’ll overlook your tardiness just for today. I’m sure you’ve heard from the principal, but cause any trouble and you’ll be expelled. Understood?” Kamoshida said sternly.

“Can you overlook more?” Ren replied with a cheeky grin, much to the annoyance of Kamoshida.

“Is that supposed to be a joke? I’m not laughing.” Kamoshida replied haughtily, “At any rate, hurry up and get to class, and you need to check in with Ms. Kawakami later as well… Good luck trying to enjoy your new life at Shujin.” He said with a malicious grin. The two teachers turned around and entered the building, leaving the two teens at the entrance.

“Nice quick thinking there with that excuse, dude. I was so freaked out, I couldn’t think of a good excuse in time.” Sakamoto said.

“No problem, let’s just head to class for now.” Ren replied.

“Oh wait, dude! I didn’t even get your name, what is it?” Sakamoto asked.

“Ren Amamiya, and yours is?”

“Ryuji Sakamoto.” He replied, raising his hand for a fist bump, to which Ren obliged.

“Ren… Ren-Ren, huh? I think the two of us will get along as troublemakers.” Ryuji said with a toothy grin, to which Ren just laughed.

“Ren-Ren?”

“What, don’t like the nickname?”

“No, it’s fine… It’s just…” Ren trailed off.

“Just…?” Ryuji questioned.

“My sister used to call me that when we were younger, so it’s a little embarrassing to hear someone else call me that.”

“Oh, you got a sister? Is she cute?”

“Uh… I guess.”

“Think I could meet her?”

“Depends; you got a plane ticket to America?”

“America!? Is she studying abroad or something?”

“Nope, we were born there.”

“Wait, you’re American!? Say something in English.”

_“You’re a dumbass, Ryuji.”_

“Holy crap, that’s crazy.”

“Anyway, lets head up to class. We can meet up at lunch or something.”

The two teens went to their respective classes, after agreeing to meet up at lunch to discuss what just happened. Ren was standing outside classroom 2-D on the second floor, he took a deep breath and opened the door. The class was quiet, all the students had their heads in their books, busy with their current lesson. Ren quietly walked in and noticed that everyone’s eyes were suddenly all on him, and he could hear some students whispering about him too.

“OMG, is that the transfer?”

“Jeez, late on his first day? Talk about trouble.”

“What’s with his uniform?”

“Is that a bruise? Was he in a fight already?”

“Is he actually a criminal though?”

“He looks kinda cute though.”

Ren smirked at that last one, he quickly turned to the teacher in front to explain why he was late.

“I’m sorry for arriving so late, Ms…?”

“Ms. Chouno. What is your reason for arriving so late?” She asked, sounding very annoyed.

“I got jumped on my way to school.” Ren replied nonchalantly, ignoring the gasps from all the students. Ms. Chouno just stared wide eyed at Ren, then she noticed the small bruises he had on his face.

“O-Oh, I see. I’m sorry you had to go through that. You’re not hurt are you?” Ms. Chouno asked with concern, Ren shook his head.

“You should see the other guy.” He chuckled, the other students just looked at him nervously.

“Oh, since you’re up here, why not introduce yourself to the class?”

“Uh, sure. My name is Ren Amamiya, nice to meet you all.” He said as he lifted his glasses and winked at his class, earning a few squeals from the girls.

“Anyway, where do I sit?” Ren asked.

“Um… Ah, there is a seat behind Takamaki-san.” She said. Ren nodded and made his way to his seat, winking as he passed Ann. She turned on her seat and stared with a look of concern.

“Are you alright Ren? What happened to you?” She asked in a worried tone.

“It’s a long story. I’m gonna meet with Ryuji on the roof during lunch, you’re welcome to join us.” Ren said warmly.

“Wait, Ryuji is involved too!?” Ann asked anxiously.

“Yeah, but let’s not talk about this now, I’ll tell you the full story later.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Ann replied, her mood lifting slightly. Ren reached for his bag to grab his books, when he overheard some of his classmates gossiping.

“Did you catch that? He was talking to Takamaki.”

“Do they know each other?”

“Do you think he made a pass at her?”

“Doesn’t he know she’s Kamoshida’s girl?”

Ren felt his heart sink at that last one. “There’s no way Ann would be dating that guy… Right?” Ren thought to himself. He looked over to Ann, he couldn’t see her face, but noticed her body stiffen. Ren would need to ask her about it sometime, for now though, he was going to try and sneak in a nap before lunchbreak. Ren crossed his arms and laid down his head, his eyes were heavy and he was on the verge of passing out, but then he heard Ms. Chouno clear her throat.

“Alright Amamiya-san, since you’re new here, allow me to ask you a question to test your knowledge.”

“God dammit.” Ren mumbled to himself.

“Tell me, what bird’s name means “coward” in English?” She asked, Ren just stared wide eyed at her, he was caught off guard by how easy the question was.

“Chicken.” Ren replied.

“Yes, very good. It seems you certainly know your English.” Ms. Chouno said.

“I’d hope so, I have been speaking it all my life.” Ren replied, earning a surprised look from his teacher and his classmates.

“Your whole life?” She asked.

“I’m from America, grew up in Seattle.” Ren explained with a shrug, earning more looks of surprise from his teacher and the students, except for Ann. The class continued as normal and despite the continued murmurs from the other students, Ren was able to rest for a few minutes until lunch. The bell rang for lunch, so Ren and Ann went up to the roof to meet with Ryuji. Ryuji had yet to arrive, so Ren and Ann took a seat at the desks that were out on the roof.

“Hey, Ren…” Ann asked.

“Hmm?” Ren hummed.

“I… wanted to talk to you about something… about the rumors.” She said nervously, Ren felt a pit form in his stomach. He just sighed.

“The stuff about my criminal record, yeah?”

“Yeah… did you really assault someone?”

“Uh… yeah, but I had a good reason to.”

“What do you mean?”

“Here, I’ll explain the full story…”

_18/03/2016_

_Seattle, Washington_

_Jefferson Park Skatepark, North Beacon Hill_

It was late one Friday evening in Seattle, and Ren Amamiya was on his way home from his local skatepark after he spent the afternoon hanging out with some friends, recording videos of their tricks and just goofing about. While riding home, Ren noticed something going on in the distance. As he approached, he could make out the shape of two adults next to a car. Normally, Ren would pay it no mind, but then he heard a cry for help from one of the adults.

_“Stop! Please!”_ A woman cried.

Ren rode up to the car and saw what was going on; a man trying to force a woman into his car. Ren hopped off his board approached the two.

 _“Hey, asshole! I’m only gonna say this once, leave the lady alone!”_ Ren exclaimed, staring daggers into the man’s back. The man turned his head to face him, it was dark so Ren wasn’t fully able to make out his face, but he noticed the man’s bald head and goatee.

“What are you looking at? Get lost!” The man replied in Japanese, which took Ren off guard for a brief moment, but it did little to ward the boy off. Ren clenched his fists and walked up to the man, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him away from the woman. The man appeared to be quite drunk and he lost his balance when Ren yanked his arm. The man fell over and hit his head against the concrete. He got up fairly quickly, but was bleeding pretty badly.

“Damn brat! I’ll sue!” He yelled, “Don’t think you can get away with this, you’ll see what happens to people when they cross me!”

The police arrived at the scene not long after. Ren never felt more relieved to see a police car in his life; thinking the police would take this drunk man away and he’d become a local hero… Or so he thought. In reality, the bald man blackmailed the woman Ren just saved into claiming he was assaulted, by Ren. Ren was shocked, so shocked that he didn’t even resist when the police dragged him into the car. What followed was a nervous car ride to the police station and a very tearful phone call with his parents. In the coming weeks, Ren would become a pariah, ostracized from his community and expelled from his high school. Fortunately, Ren’s family still believed in him, and the court case that ensued just proved how rigged everything was against him. They ended up losing the case and Ren would be sent away on probation.

_11/04/2016_

_Tokyo, Japan_

_Shujin Academy, Aoyama-Itchome_

“So yeah… Story of my life, I guess.” Ren said with a shrug. Ann just stared at Ren, her eyes were on the verge of tears, but she did her best not to cry.

“…Ann?” Ren asked. Ann quickly rubbed her eyes before she replied.

“Sorry, but just hearing your story is just… I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that.”

“It’s fine. It sucks, but I always did want to travel, and Japan’s been pretty great so far, so there is a bit of a silver lining.”

“It’s not just that. I need to apologize because… I kinda started believing those rumors too, thinking that you may have lied about yourself to try and get closer to me. I should’ve put more trust in you. I’m sorry…”

“Hey, no harm done, right? You were just being cautious.”

“No, it’s not that… I should’ve known better than to trust the rumors, because I know firsthand how terrible they can be. You heard them in class too, right? That I’m apparently ‘Kamoshida’s’ girl? They’re not true, it’s all lies that he spread about me to try and get into my pants… I… I fucking hate it!” Ann yelled, tears begging to fall from her face, “The worst part is that he’s been dangling my best friend Shiho over my head as his little bargaining chip.”

“Shiho?”

“She’s a member of the school’s volleyball team, and she’s one of their best players… But Kamoshida said he’d take her off the team if I turn down his advances… I’ve been telling myself this is all for Shiho’s sake, but… I can’t take it anymore… It’s been happening since last year and I don’t know what to do, but… I’ve had enough of this… I hate him!” Ann started sobbing heavily.

“Ann...” Ren said as he gently placed his hands on her shoulder to calm her down. It startled her at first, but she calmed down and eased into Ren’s comforting touch. She looked up at him and Ren gave her a soft smile, a smile that she returned.

“But still… Shiho’s my only friend. She’s all I have here at this sorry excuse of a school!” Ann cried as she tried rubbing the tears out of her eyes.

“Ren, tell me… What should I do?” Ren didn’t have an answer for her, all he could do was try to comfort her the best he could. Ren brought her in closer and gently hugged her, lightly rubbing her back.

“I don’t know, Ann. I’m sorry I can’t give you an answer, but I can at least be a shoulder for you to cry on if need be.” Ren said as warmly and calmly as he could. Ann stiffened a bit, but quickly nestled her head against the crook of Ren’s neck, taking in all the warmth that he seemed to radiate. For the first time in a while, Ann felt safe, and she didn’t want this moment to end, so she wrapped her arms around Ren and basked in his warmth. Ann’s tears slowly stopped as she let herself get more comfortable being held by Ren.

“Feeling better?” Ren asked with genuine concern.

“Yeah, thanks for that Ren. I think I really needed to vent my frustrations out to someone. I don’t know why, but you’re really easy to talk to.” Ann replied, a light smile spreading across her face.

“Happy to help.” Ren replied as he loosened the hug. Ann hung onto him for a while longer, but released him as soon as she heard the door to the roof open. Ren turned to face the door and saw his blonde headed buddy, Ryuji.

“Sup Ren-Ren.” Ryuji said as he saw his friend, but was a bit surprised to see another face there as well.

“A-Ann?” Ryuji stuttered, “What are you doing up here?”

“I invited her up. I kind of owe her an explanation for why I was late today.” Ren answered.

“Yeah, you said you guys got jumped, right?” Questioned Ann.

“Yeah, that was actually a lie.” Ren said nonchalantly.

“Huh?” Ann and Ryuji gasped in unison.

“I told you it was a long story. Here let’s start from the beginning.” Ren said.

“You sure it’s a good idea to tell her all this stuff, man?” Ryuji asked.

“I don’t see why not.” Ren shrugged.

Ren then proceeded to explain the events that transpired earlier in the day; everything from the ginormous castle, being attacked by guards in armor, a very underdressed Kamoshida, Ren awakening to some weird superpowers and the talking cat that helped them escape. Needless to say, Ann was speechless.

“Wow…” Ann muttered.

“Wait, you actually believe us? You serious?” Ryuji questioned.

“I mean, it’s a weird story… I don’t know, I think I may have to see it for myself first.” Ann said.

“That might be problem though, we don’t know how we got there in the first place.” Ryuji replied.

“Actually…” Ren chimed in, “After retelling the story, I think I might know how to get back in.”

“For real?” Ryuji asked.

“Yeah, but let’s wait for school to end first. Let’s meet by the alley in front of the school, you gonna tag along Ann?” Ren replied.

“Uh, sure. I’m not busy this afternoon, so I guess I can tag along.”

The three teens spent the rest of lunch break chatting on the roof until the bell rang. When it did, Ryuji split from the group and went over to his class while Ren and Ann did the same. As they were walking, Ren bumped into a timid looking boy with various bruises on his face and arms.

“Crap, sorry dude. My bad.” Ren apologized, the boy gave Ren a nervous look and quickly darted in the other direction.

“What’s that kid’s problem?” Ren asked.

“That’s Mishima, he’s our class rep. He’s nice, but he’s not the most talkative person though.” Ann replied.

Ren just shrugged and continued walking to class with Ann. They made it to class and spent the rest of the school day doing classwork; Ren nearly got hit with a piece of chalk but managed to dodge it, gaining a few gasps from his classmates. The final bell rang for the day, Ren was hanging out on the stairs next to his classroom, waiting for Ann to leave. Ren heard Ann’s footsteps as she left the class, and was about to turn around when he heard a familiar voice… Kamoshida’s voice.

“Hey there, Takamaki.” He said in a sleezy tone, “You looking for a ride home? Things have been pretty dangerous lately with all those accidents.”

“S-Sorry, I have a photoshoot today. It’s for the special summer issue, so I can’t afford to miss it.” Ann quickly lied on the spot.

“If that’s the case, why don’t I take you there? I certainly wouldn’t mind.” He replied with a wide grin, putting a hand on her shoulder. Ann was visibly repulsed, but didn’t shake him off, likely to avoid causing a scene. Ren was getting pissed, but he needed to remain calm and think of an idea to get Ann away from him, after a moment, an idea came to him. He pulled out his phone and dialed Ann’s number.

**_*Ring Ring*_ **

****

Ann felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and quickly pulled it out, she looked at the caller ID and noticed it was Ren that was calling her. She looked up and noticed Ren was on the steps, just behind Kamoshida, giving Ann a worried look. Ren mouthed out the words “It’s work” and nodded towards her, Ann immediately caught on to what Ren was doing and smirked slightly, she returned her focus on Kamoshida and said:

“Sorry, I got a phone call from work. I need to take this, sorry.” Ann said as she lightly jogged down the stairs, passing Ren on the way. He smirked as she walked past, but then shifted his focus on Kamoshida. Ren just glared at him and made his way down the stairs, but he could feel Kamoshida glaring daggers into his back as he walked. Ren ran up to Ann’s side as they reached to first floor.

“Hey, thanks for bailing me out of there. I really owe you for that.” Ann said.

“Okay, how about dinner and a movie?” Ren replied with a playful smirk, to which Ann just blushed.

“You mean… like a date?” She mumbled, cheeks tinged in pink.

“I mean… If you want to call it that, yeah.” Ren said, cheeks beginning to flush a little.

“O-Okay… I’d like that.” Ann replied with a smile.

The two exited the school and made their way to the alley where they were greeted by their blonde friend.

“Yo, Ren-Ren! Ann! Over here!” He yelled.

“Jeez, Ryuji. School just got out and you’re already shouting like crazy.”

“Sorry, I just really wanna get back in there. By the way, Ren-Ren, how do we go back?”

“When I was retelling the story, I remembered something.” Ren said as he pulled out his phone again. “Remember when we both got that headache?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you hear my phone say “ _Candidate Recognized” and_ **“** _Beginning Navigation” too?”_

“Uhhh… I think so?”

“Well, I was messing with my phone during class, and I think I know what happened.” Ren said as he showed the others the red eye app on his phone.

“What is that?” Ann asked.

“It’s some sort of navigation app, it even has a bookmark for the castle.”

“Wow… where the eff did you get an app like this?”

“I’m not too sure, it just kinda appeared on my phone one day. Anyway, you two ready to go?”

Both blondes nodded at Ren and he activated the app. Ann felt a slight headache but the two boys were unaffected. In a moment, their entire surroundings were changed.

“OH MY GOD!” Ann shouted, “Where are we, and what happened to the school!” She said as she pointed at where the school should be.

“Relax, Ann. This is that other world we talked about.” Ren said calmly. Ann turned to face him but was caught off guard at his sudden change in appearance.

“Ren? What are you wearing!?” Ann exclaimed, pointing at Ren’s clothes. Ren looked down to find he was in his slasher-punk outfit again, the others couldn’t tell due to his mask, but underneath it, he was smirking.

“Oh, this? From what Morgana told me, this outfit is basically my image of rebellion. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Who’s Morgana?” Ann asked.

“The talking cat that helped us escape.” Ryuji chimed in. Ann just kept staring at how unfazed the two boys were.

“You guys are acting way too calm about this!” She said, the two boys just shrugged.

“Anyway, lets head back inside. We can use the side entrance Morgana showed us.” Ren said as he began walking forward, and was closely followed by the two blondes.

Ren gave Ryuji and Ann a boost through the window and followed after them. He took a look through the passage to check for enemies, the coast was clear so he ushered the others to follow him. He led them to a door on their left and opened it slowly, only to find a guard in the room. Ren ducked behind a wall, the others followed suite. Ren motioned for the blonde’s to stay put, and with a deep breath, charged into the room to take on the shadow. Ren jumped onto its back and yanked the mask off the guards face, kicking himself off its back and landing on the ground with a roll. Ren quickly got up and saw the shadow burst into black goo, taking the form of a blue fairy and two pumpkin heads that had Ren fought before. With a smirk, Ren quickly ripped off his hockey mask to summon his Persona.

“Give ‘em Hell, Doyle!”

Ann stared in awe at what she was witnessing. Behind Ren was a massive pale man with a skull for a face; and it seemed to follow Ren’s command as he swung his axe-guitar, slashing at the pumpkins while Ren gracefully dodged the fireballs and lightning bolts that were being sent his way. She saw Ren’s right hand suddenly went ablaze in blue flames, quickly dissipating and taking the form of a handgun, seemingly taking Ren by surprise. Nevertheless, he carried on fighting and made quick work of the enemies, leaving only the fairy left. Ren slowly approached it, gun drawn to its face; Ann couldn’t hear what it said, but it seemed to be pleading for its life. Ren lowered his gun and the fairy suddenly rose into the air, glowing a bright shade of blue and turned into a mask. Ren cautiously touched it and it was absorbed into his hockey mask, catching him off guard. The two blondes slowly approached Ren once the fight had ended.

“Yo dude! That was so kick ass!” Ryuji yelled.

“Yeah, that was amazing!” Ann gushed. Ren was thankful his masked covered his whole face, because he was blushing like crazy from Ann’s praise. He cleared his throat.

“T-Thanks. But let’s keep the noise levels down while we’re in here, we don’t want to attract more guards.” Ren said coolly, to which the others nodded.

“Jeez, you guys sure are loud!” came a familiar high-pitched voice, gaining the attention of the teens.

“Morgana?” Ren asked. The cat nodded as he approached, but suddenly stopped at the sight of the gorgeous blonde girl that was with the two boys.

“W-What a beautiful and meow-velous girl!” He said, his big blue eyes not leaving Ann for a moment. Ren bent down and started scratching the cat’s head, taking him out of his trance.

“H-Hey! You’re doing it aga… **_prrrrrr prrrrrr_** …” Morgana tried to say, Ren just let out a soft chuckle.

“What is that thing? Some kind of monster cat?” Ann asked.

“That’s the talking cat-thing we told you about.” Said Ryuji. Ren stopped his petting of Morgana to ask him a question.

“So Morgana, what are you doing here?”

“T-That should be my question! Why the hell did you come back!?” Morgana replied.

“We wanted to show Ann why we were late for school this morning.” Said Ren, Ryuji suddenly butted into the conversation as well.

“Also, I wanted to ask you somethin’.”

“Ask away then.” The cat replied.

“The Kamoshida in the real world didn’t seem to notice what we did in here when we met him in the real world, why’s that?”

“Like I said before, this world is based off Kamoshida’s cognition. Basically, it’s how he sees the world.”

“Okay… I think I kinda get it, but I also gotta ask; those other students we saw in here, you said they ain’t real, but does that mean he sees them all as prisoners in the real world?”

“Essentially.”

“Heh… hahaha… DAMMIT!” Ryuji suddenly exclaimed.

“You okay Ryuji?” Ren asked.

“I’m fine, just pissed. Kamoshida seeing himself as a king in this place is way too on the effin’ nose. I’m so pissed, all I can do is laugh!”

“You must really hate this guy, huh Blondie.” Morgana said.

“”Hate” don’t even begin to describe how I feel. That bastard ruined my effin’ life at school.” Ryuji replied, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.

“Ryuji…” Ann said sympathetically. Ryuji composed himself before opening his mouth again.

“I’m fine, but there’s something I wanna check. Ann, you know the rumors of how Kamoshida is abusing the volleyball team, yeah?” Ann didn’t respond, she just stared at the ground solemnly.

“Abuse?” Ren spoke up.

“Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t know much about it, but every day I walk around the school, I see members of the volleyball club with bruises all over. There ain’t no way that’s from regular practice. I tried askin’ around before, but none of the members ever speak out about it, ‘prolly ‘cause they’re scared of what Kamoshida might do to ‘em. So they just go along with his shit.” Ryuji said, Ren just nodded, indicating Ryuji to continue.

“Since this is how Kamoshida sees things, and the volleyball team won’t speak up, I figure we could check his, what was it… cognitions? Yeah, check his cognitions for evidence of his abuse. Think we could do that?” Ryuji asked, surprising both Ren and Ann with his question.

“Heh, that’s not a bad idea Ryuji.” Ren said as he tapped him on the shoulder. He then looked down at Morgana.

“Hey Morgana, you think you could show us where the other students are?”

“I could, but it’s very dangerous. Your friends can’t fight here, are you sure you want to do this?” Morgana asked, to which all three teen nodded. Morgana reluctantly agreed.

Morgana and Ren took point, since they were the only one’s capable of defending themselves, while Ann and Ryuji followed closely from behind. They passed the foyer from earlier and went down a variety of passages and hallways, trying to locate the cognitive students being held prisoner. When the group rounded a corner, they were suddenly confronted by a guard. Ren and Morgana took up an offensive position, while the blondes hid behind a wall. The guard burst open and took the form of a black horse with two large green horns and sinister red eyes. Ren pulled off his mask to summon his Persona, but to everyone’s surprise, it was not the hulking frame of Doyle, but the tiny blue fairy from earlier.

“Pixie, Zio!” Ren commanded, Pixie followed and shot a bolt of lightning at the horse, knocking him to the ground. Ren and Morgana took advantage of the shadow’s dazed state and charged at it, striking and slashing the shadow multiple times in quick succession, killing it almost instantly. Morgana approached Ren after the fight, eyes wide in amazement.

“What the… Frizzy hair, what happened to Doyle? Why was your Persona that little fairy we fought earlier?”

“Her name is Pixie, and she said she wanted to join me after I spared her life. She said something about the “Sea of Souls”, but I’m not entirely sure what she meant by that. Still, it’s pretty cool though.” Ren replied, grinning under his mask.

“What do you mean “pretty cool?” Do you have any idea how useful that power is? Jeez frizzy hair, you’ve surprised me enough today, don’t you think?” Morgana joked, Ren just shrugged in response.

After the battle, the group continued further down, into the dungeons the boys were in earlier that day. They managed to find the students they were looking for, but it was not a pretty sight.

The boys of the volleyball team were all severely beaten and were still being forced to train despite their injuries. Some boys were being forced to run long distances without water, others were being spiked in the face with volleyballs and some were straight out beaten up by the guards. The teens and the cat looked on in horror at the inhumane treatment of the students.

“Hey, ain’t this proof enough of his abuse?” Asked Ryuji.

“I guess, but it’s not like we can use this as evidence though.” Ren replied.

“I know, and our phone’s don’t work here either… Gimme a sec, I’m gonna try and memorize as many faces as I can. We can try asking them about the abuse tomorrow.”

“Didn’t you say they wouldn’t talk earlier?”

“Yeah, but we gotta at least try.”

“Ryuji’s right. And I think I have an idea to get them to talk.” Ann chimed in.

“And that would be?” Ren asked, raising an eyebrow at Ann.

“You.” She said with a smirk.

“Me?” Ren asked, raising his eyebrow even further.

“Most of the school thinks you’re a delinquent, right? I know it’s probably not the best idea, but maybe we could try intimidating the info out of them… provided we don’t hurt anyone, of course.” She said, scratching the back of her head, “On second thought, maybe not. That might just get you into trouble.”

“That’s not actually a bad idea, Ann.” Ren said, earning a slight smile from Ann, “I’ll try asking around the school. I just need an opportunity when there’ll be less teachers around.”

“We’ve got the volleyball rally on Wednesday, most’ve the teacher will be in the gymnasium, so we should be able to ask the members without too much issue.” Ryuji suggested.

“Wednesday, huh? Alright, that should work. Let’s head out as soon as you’re done memorizing their faces.” Ren said.

“I’m curious though…” Ann spoke up.

“What’s up, Ann?” Ren asked.

“I only see the boys team here, but what about the girls? I’m worried that Shiho is also being abused. I’ve noticed after practice she’d have some bruises, but when I asked her about it, she just keeps telling me she’s fine.” Ann replied worryingly.

“We’ll find out soon enough, for now, let’s get going before more guards show up.” Ren said, and as if right on que, more guards spawned from the ground, catching everyone off guard.

“Shit!” Ren shouted, “Morgana, you lead these two out, I’ll keep you covered!” Morgana nodded without hesitation, urging the others to follow him.

“REN!” Ann yelled, Ren turned to her and lifted up his mask, giving her a smile and a wink.

“I’ll be fine, I’m more worried about your guys’ safety, now get going.” He said calmly, turning back towards the guards. Ann didn’t move, Ryuji quickly grabbed her arm and dragged her along.

Morgana had led the two blondes through the many hallways they had traversed before, and quickly made it up to the foyer. Morgana and Ryuji ran up ahead while Ann followed from behind. She suddenly stopped in the middle of the room, and turned her head, hoping and praying that Ren would make it back.

“Ann!” Ryuji yelled in an attempt to gain her attention, but it didn’t work. She continued looking on, waiting for Ren.

“Ann, come on, we gotta go!” Ryuji said as he approached her.

“I’m not leaving him!” Ann yelled back, catching Ryuji by surprise.

“He’ll be fine, you saw him earlier, he can handle himself in a fight.” Ryuji said, trying to convince her to follow them. Suddenly, more shadows spawned from the ground and surrounded the trio.

“Quickly, we need to rescue the princess before these thieves take her away!” ordered a guard in a large, golden suit of armor. One of the guards quickly grabbed onto Ann and pulled her away.

“H-Hey, let go of me!” Ann begged, but the guard effortlessly carried her away. Ryuji attempted to save her, but was quickly knocked back. Morgana was too busy fending off the other guards to help, but was brought to the ground when the shadow of a little gremlin in a golden jar zapped him with a bolt of lightning. Ryuji just stared on helplessly as Ann was taken away and the only one that could defend him was down for the count, and to add insult to injury, the mop headed bastard, Kamoshida, approached him. He walked up to Morgana and stood on his tiny little body, getting him to squeal in pain. He just looked at Ryuji with a wide grin.

“Bahahaha… Look who decided to come back…” Kamoshida taunted, “I bet you simply came here on a whim, and look where that got you.” He continued, Ryuji gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

“No…” Was all Ryuji could muster, looking as if he were about to cry.

“What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly… How dare you come back here!” Kamoshida continued pressing down on Morgana, earning an even louder cry from the poor cat.

“Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?” Kamoshida said.

“That wasn’t no practice… It was physical abuse! You just didn’t like our team!” Ryuji yelled as he fell to his knees.

“It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me! That coach that got fired was hopeless too. Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would’ve settled with only breaking his star’s leg.” Kamoshida stated.

“…What?” Ryuji mumbled out.

“Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defense anyway!” Kamoshida continued taunting him.

“D-Dammit… Am I gonna lose again…?” Ryuji stuttered, “Not only can I not run anymore… The track team is gone too ‘cause of this asshole…!”

“So that’s why…” Morgana mumbled under his strained breath.

“Your friend in the mask is as good as dead, this little one here will meet his end too, then you’re next. After that, I think I’ll have some fun with the “princess” hahahaha!” Kamoshida grinned.

“Ryuji!” Morgana shouted.

**_*BANG*_ **

Suddenly, a loud gunshot echoed throughout the foyer, and it hit Kamoshida in the thigh, causing him to fall over.

“Shit!” Kamoshida cried. Ryuji turned to find the source of the gunfire, and it was nonother than Ren. He was battered and bruised, with visible bloodstains on his clothes, but he was alive at least.

“RYUJI!” Ren yelled, “You gotta stand up for yourself! Don’t let this bastard win!” He continued as he slowly walked over to Ryuji and Morgana.

“Come on man! Didn’t you say we were gonna be troublemakers!? Let me see your will of rebellion!” He roared at the top of his lungs. Ryuji stared at Ren for a brief moment, letting his words sink into his head. Ryuji glowered at Kamoshida.

“You’re right. Everything that was important to me was taken by him… I’ll never get ‘em back…!” Ryuji said. Kamoshida was helped up by one of his guards, glaring daggers at Ren.

“You just don’t know when to sit down and die, do you!?” He yelled at Ren, he turned back to face Ryuji, “Sakamoto! I want you to look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they decided to side with trash like you!” He continued.

“No… That’s what you are…” Ryuji interrupted as he slowly got back up to his feet, “All you think about is using people… You’re the real scumbag, Kamoshida!” He yelled as he slowly approached Kamoshida.

“What are you doing? Silence him!” Kamoshida ordered his guards. Ryuji stopped and pointed directly at Kamoshida’s face.

“STOP LOOKIN’ DOWN ON ME WITH THAT STUPID SMILE ON YOUR FACE!” Ryuji shouted with all his might.

**_“You made me wait quite a while”_** A loud voice boomed within Ryuji’s head, causing him to recoil in pain as he gripped his head.

 ** _“You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact.”_** The voice continued; Ryuji continued to convulse, falling to the ground, gasping for air as he tried to get the pain to stop.

****

**_“Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc…?_ **

**_The “other you” that exists within desires it thus…_ **

**_I am thou, thou art I…_ **

**_There is no turning back…_ **

**_The skull of your rebellion is your flag henceforth!”_ **

****

A skull mask had appeared on Ryuji’s face and the pain that was throbbing in his head had subsided for a moment, allowing him to look up, glaring at Kamoshida. The golden armored guard moved in front of Kamoshida, to guard him from the very pissed off blonde boy kneeling on the ground.

“Hmph, what can you do, boy?” The guard asked, raising his shield. Ryuji quickly got up off the ground and hurriedly pulled on his mask like he saw Ren do before. Ryuji was crying, tears were flowing and his breathing erratic, but he knew he had to do it. He did not want Kamoshida to win, but more importantly, he wanted to save his new friends. If saving the others meant he had to experience this ungodly amount of pain, then so be it. He bit the bullet, and gave one final tug, pulling it off completely, blood splattering everywhere. Despite the blood, the pain Ryuji felt was gone, all he felt was relief. He smirked.

All of a sudden, Ryuji’s whole body was engulfed in blue flames, they faded away after a moment, and it revealed Ryuji in a new set of clothes. He was dressed in all black from head to toe. A black leather jacket with the collar popped, black pants and black boots, he also had bright yellow gloves that complimented his blonde hair, as well as a red scarf around his neck. Behind Ryuji was a large skeleton dressed as a pirate, standing atop a boat. Ren stood off to the side with a smile on his face, this was Ryuji’s image of rebellion, and he was beyond happy to see his new friend awaken to his Persona.

Ryuji flashed a menacing glare at the guard, staring at him with murderous intent.

“This one as well?” Muttered Kamoshida as he was taken away by one of his guards.

“Right on… Wassup, Persona… This effin’ rocks!” Ryuji said as Ren and Morgana walked up of his side.

“Now that I got this power, it’s time for payback…” Ryuji looked to Ren on his side and flashed a toothy grin.

“Yo, I’m ready… Bring it!” Ryuji said.

“Ngh… Don’t mock me, you brat!” Yelled the golden guard as he burst into black goo and took the form of a massive knight in red armor, wielding a spear and was riding a black horse.

“Blast him away… Captain Kidd!” Ryuji yelled at the top of his lungs.

“What troublemakers that bother King Kamoshida with trifle matters!” The Knight yelled.

“Kamoshida’s cognition ain’t changin’, right? Then I’ll act like the trouble maker I am! Let’s do this, Captain Kidd!”

The Knight raised his spear, summoning two of the black two horned horses from earlier. The horses charged at Ryuji, he quickly summoned Captain Kidd and blasted the horses away with a surge of electricity, paralyzing them. Ren, albeit injured, darted towards the Knight and pulled of his mask.

“Silky, Bufu!” Ren shouted as he summoned a brand new persona; a beautiful, green-skinned woman in a red dress. She raised her hand and blasted shards of ice at the Knight, doing a good amount of damage in the process. Despite taking damage, the Knight dashed forward on his horse and slashed at Ren with his spear, Ren was unable to dodge in time and received a large slash across the chest. Ren was badly hurt and he Knight was looking to end the fight quickly, he raised his spear for another attack but Morgana and Zorro stepped in between them, blocking the attack with Zorro’s rapier. Ryuji rushed in, calling upon Captain Kidd, ordering the pirate to ram his ship against the night, Knocking him and the horse to the ground.

“Ren!”

“Frizzy hair!”

The blonde and the cat rushed to Ren’s side, checking his wounds.

“Shit, this is bad!” Ryuji said. Morgana jumped into the air and summoned his Persona.

“Zorro, use Dia!” Zorro quickly appeared behind Morgana and swung his sword in the air, casting green energy around Ren. Ren groaned, but was able to stand back up again.

“Fuck, that hurt.” Ren muttered, he looked down to see his cuts were closing and his bruises fading, leaving a few light scars. He clenched his fist and looked at Morgana.

“Thanks for that, Morgana. Now then, let’s kick this guy’s ass and find Ann!” Ren yelled, Ryuji and Morgana nodded in agreement. The trio rushed the Knight at high speed, Ryuji lunged at him with his metal pipe, thwacking his helmet, leaving it dazed, while Ren and Morgana slashed the horse’s legs, preventing it from moving. Morgana then coordinated the teens for a special all-out attack, completely annihilating the Knight and the other horses. The trio were left panting and sweating in the now empty foyer. Without a word, Ren started walking in the direction Kamoshida had retreated.

“Hey, frizzy hair, where are you going?” Morgana asked.

“Gonna look for Ann.” Ren replied.

“B-But you’re still so weak. What if you hurt yourself even more!?” Morgana retorted.

“I Don’t care! I was the one to bring her into this, no way am I gonna abandon her!” Ren exclaimed.

“Ren’s right! As weak as we might be right now, we gotta save her. It’s kinda our fault she’s in this mess too.” Ryuji added.

“I’m not saying we abandon her, but just take things easy alright? I promise we’ll save her!” Declared Morgana. To which both teens nodded.

“We’re coming Ann, just hold out a bit longer.” Ren muttered to himself while staring at the doorway Kamoshida and his guard had retreated.


	5. Devils Whorehouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Song is Devils Whorehouse by The Misfits

_11/04/2016_

_The Other World_

_Kamoshida’s Palace, Shujin Academy_

Ren, Ryuji and Morgana were all huddled together at a table they found in what Morgana described as a “Safe Room”, they were all taking a much needed breather. The fight against the golden knight had proven to be quite taxing on the trio, especially for Ren. Morgana had explained to them that overexerting themselves after awakening to a Persona was dangerous, but neither of the boys cared, their only goal right now was Ann’s safety. Ren was getting anxious, constantly tapping his foot on the floor and twiddling his thumbs, waiting to get out of the room and save Ann. Ryuji noticed the worried expression on Ren’s face and decided to speak to him, hopefully to calm him down.

“Yo, Ren-Ren… Can I ask you something?” He asked. Ren stopped his fidgeting and looked to Ryuji.

“What?” Ren’s voice cracked slightly as he replied.

“You seem to be really close with Ann, do you know her from somewhere?”

“I met her at the Shibuya skatepark yesterday. We talked for a bit and really hit it off.”

“Oh, you skate? That’s pretty sick. I always wanted to learn, but I always focused on doing track.”

“Want me to teach you?” Ren asked with a light smile.

“If we get outta here alive, sure. Sounds like it’d be fun.” Ryuji chuckled.

“I’ve got a question, you seem pretty close to Ann too, what’s your relationship to her?” Ren asked nervously’

“Huh? Oh, we went to middle school together. We were in the same class.”

“What was she like back then?”

“Pretty much the same. She really hasn’t changed much since then. Why?”

“Just asking.” Ren said with a smirk. He got up from his seat and walked to the door.

“Alright, I think our break is over now, time get moving.” Ren said, the others got up from their seats and followed Ren through the door.

“Hang on, Ann. We’re coming.”

Ren and his team quickly and quietly maneuvered through every room and hallway they entered, slipping past every guard they saw in an effort to conserve energy. Ren kept up a cool façade, not trying to alert his teammates to how badly he was hurt, but every movement he made would ache at his joints, and the scars from his earlier wounds still stung, but he kept pushing forward. Physically, Ren was barely managing, and his mental state was faring even worse; his mind was in a panicked frenzy, thoughts of Ann in danger driving him crazy, thoughts of them not reaching her in time would form a pit in his stomach. Ren nearly lost his concentration, nearly walking into the path of a guard, fortunately Ryuji and Morgana were able to stop him from causing any unnecessary fights.

Elsewhere, Ann was being restrained on a Saint Andrews Cross, and if that wasn’t bad enough, she was being held captive in a room that looked like it belonged in a depraved sex-dungeon. It was decorated with fancy rugs, velvety curtains, rose petals, candles and a large portrait of “King Kamoshida.” Ann just felt revolted by it all as she tried to struggle her way out of the bracers holding her down. Suddenly, Kamoshida appeared, holding onto his leg as he was being carried by a guard.

“Argh, that bastard! How is one scrawny child able to be this much of a nuisance!?” Kamoshida complained, much to Ann’s relief. Hearing Kamoshida complain about a boy and look so distressed gave her hope that Ren was still alive and well. She glared at Kamoshida as she watched him slowly approach her.

“At least I still have you as a bargaining chip, isn’t that right… “princess.” Kamoshida snickered.

“The hell are you calling princess?” Ann glowered at Kamoshida.

“You, but don’t let that get to your head. You may look like her, but there’s no way you’re **my** Ann.” Kamoshida said, much to Ann’s confusion. Before Ann could say anything, Kamoshida snapped his fingers and a woman slowly walked up to Kamoshida’s side, grabbing his arm and leaning onto him. Ann was shocked, because the person holding onto Kamoshida was… Herself. The doppelganger looked nearly identical to Ann, but she gave off a more sultry and shameless aura than Ann ever could. She was wearing a purple bikini, a pair of cat ears, and pink heels.

“Who’s that…?” Ann asked, completely flabbergasted.

“Shut it! You’re with those thieves. Once they get here, they’re gonna try to save you, and that’s when I use you to get them to back off. That’s all you’re good for.” Kamoshida spat out.

“You’re insane!” Ann cried.

“What, are you afraid?” Kamoshida taunted.

“What is that outfit…? You’ve seriously lost your mind.” Ann muttered.

“I do whatever I please here, it is my castle after all. The world of my desires.”

“And the world of your desires is a perverted sex-dungeon, right? God, you’re a pig!”

“What a lively slave. It’s almost a shame I have to use you as bait. I won’t get the chance to play with you now.”

“Oh, just wait until Ren and the others get here, then you’re gonna be sorry!” Ann yelled at Kamoshida. He just scowled and turned to the Ann doppelganger.

“Tch… The girl decided to tell me off. What do you think of that, princess?” He asked.

“Talking back is, like… totally unforgivable…” The Ann lookalike responded in a valley-girl like fashion.

“In that case, once I use her to get the others to surrender, she’ll be executed with them.” Kamoshida said with a grin, “But for now, maybe I can play with you for a bit… Let’s see here… Where should I start? Maybe I’ll start by taking off your clothes?” Kamoshida said with a sleezy grin.

“Are you kidding me…?” Ann muttered in a very worried tone.

Suddenly, Ren, Ryuji and Morgana all burst through the door. Ann felt relieved, but then she noticed how ragged and bloody Ren looked. She noticed Ryuji beside Ren, but with a mask and a new set of clothes, she also noticed the group of female volleyball players all topless and on their knees, right by the door where the boys had entered. How Ann didn’t notice them till now, she doesn’t know, but what she did know was that if the others were here, there was a chance she would be saved.

Ren, Ryuji and Morgana were shocked by what they saw as they entered the room. Half-naked high school girls in a creepy sex-dungeon was not something they were prepared to see.

“Dude, this is effed up…” Ryuji muttered.

“You know you can say “fuck”, right?” Ren responded.

“Not the time, dude. Anyway, is this what Kamoshida thinks of the girls on the volleyball team?”

“Hey, that’s…” Morgana piped up, pointing toward Ann and Kamoshida and… Ann?

“ANN!” Ren yelled as he approached.

“Just when I was about to start enjoying myself…” Kamoshida sighed.

“Ren!” Ann yelled.

“Seriously, why don’t you brats know when to keel over and die? How many times are you gonna keep coming back?” Kamoshida said, then turning his focus back to Ann, “I bet you’re just like these thieves. You’re here because you’re somehow pissed at me.”

“Somehow!? You’ve made high school hell for me and Shiho ever since you arrived last year! I’m sick of it!” Ann spat out, “All you’ve done at that school is hurt or use people. From the boys in the volleyball and track team to the girls that you see as nothing more than sexual outlets for your own selfish needs! You’ve spread rumors about people to try and get your way with them, and I can’t imagine how many girls you’ve targeted before you set your sights on me!” She continued. Ryuji was taken aback by how aggressive Ann was, Ren just smiled underneath his mask. He could feel something big coming. Ren felt it when he first awoken to Doyle, and again when Ryuji had awoken to Captain Kidd. Ann was so close, she just needed a little push.

“Stop this!” Ryuji yelled as he took a step towards Ann. Kamoshida’s guards quickly raised their blades closer to Ann’s neck, as a warning to stop Ryuji from moving.

“Take one more step and I’ll kill her in the spot!” Kamoshida yelled.

“Dammit…!” Ryuji mumbled.

“Tell you what though, If you three surrender, I’ll let her leave in one piece.” Kamoshida snickered, sending a chill down Ren’s spine.

“No! Don’t trust anything he says!” Ann yelled.

“Shit, Ren… What are we gonna do?” Ryuji asked anxiously. Ren just stared at Ann, he just needed to say something to her, something to help her awaken.

“Ann, you can’t just give in like this… You need to find the strength within yourself to rebel. You said it yourself, that you’ve had enough! Don’t listen to his bullshit and fight it! Show me your will to rebel!” Ren yelled, completely emptying his lungs from shouting so much.

“Ren…” was all Ann could say, she was surprised to hear that from him, but it made her happy too. Suddenly, Ann felt like a weight was lifted from her shoulders. She smirked.

“You’re right. Letting this piece of shit toy with me…” Ann chuckled lightly, “What was I thinking?”

“It’s like I always say. Slaves should just behave and..” Kamoshida tried to say, but was cut off by Ann.

“…Shut up! I’ve had enough of this…” Ann said, she then took a deep breath, psyching herself up for what she was about to say next.

“YOU’VE PISSED ME OFF, YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

“’Atta girl!” Ren said to himself, smiling under his mask.

After Ann’s outburst, she heard a voice echo in her head, the sound sending reverberations throughout her entire body, followed by a sharp pain.

**_“My… It’s taken far too long.”_** Said the voice. Ann reeled at the pain, but was constrained by the iron bracers around her wrists to be able to grab her head.

**_“Tell me… You’re not gonna allow this scum to toy with you and those you care about any longer, are you?”_** Ann’s body continued to convulse as she tried gasp for air.

****

**_“Forgiving him is simply not an option.”_ **

****

**_“Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within…”_ **

****

**_“I am thou, thou art I…_ **

**_We can finally forge a contract…”_ **

****

Ann’s convulsing suddenly stopped as she hung her head.

“I hear you… Carmen…” She mumbled weakly.

Ann looked up and a red cat mask formed on her face.

“You’re right. No more holding back…!” She said, this time with much more force, pulling the bracers off her wrist with minimal effort, causing Kamoshida to tremble in fear.

“Dammit, not again!” He cried.

**_“There you go… Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself._ **

**_Understand? Then I’ll gladly lend you my strength.”_** The voice continued.

Ann grabbed her mask, and with one hard pull, she ripped the mask off in one go, sending blood splattering over the floor. Ann’s body was then engulfed by the familiar blue flames that came during both Ren and Ryuji’s awakening. The boys quickly glanced at each other, giving a subtle nod before they turned their attention back on Ann. The flames dissipated and revealed Ann in her new outfit; an all red bodysuit with thigh-high boots, pink gloves and a tail. Behind her was her Persona, an elegant looking woman with black hair and what looked to be some sort of cat-themed opera mask. She had a frilly red and black dress with one leg resting on top of a man with a heart-shaped head, while another man with a heart-head floated above her like a balloon, he was being restrained by the neck with a thorny vine. Ren gawked at Ann, he knew she was beautiful, but there was something about seeing her unleashing all that power that made her dazzle him just that much more.

Ann charged at one of the guards, kicking his sword into the air. Ann leapt after it, catching the blade with both hands and coming down on the Ann doppelganger, slicing her cleanly in half. Kamoshida panicked and started backing away. Ann dropped the sword and slowly walked towards him, Ren and the others joining her at her side.

“You know what? I’m not some cheap girl you can toy with… you scumbag.” Ann said calmly, but her anger slowly seeped through.

“Bitch…!” Was all Kamoshida could mumble out, hiding behind one of his guards.

“You’ve hurt enough people in your life Kamoshida… I swear, I’m going to put a stop to it!” Ann pointed towards Kamoshida.

“I WILL ROB YOU OF EVERYTHING!” She exclaimed.

“How dare you! Enough of your insolence!” Uttered the golden guard that Kamoshida was cowering behind. The guard burst into a mass of black goo and took the shape of a large demon, floating on a toilet.

“No, I’ve had enough of you. No one’s gonna stop me now! Let’s go, Carmen!” Ann yelled at the top of her lungs.

The battle began and the toilet-demon began firing shards of ice at the group, Ann, Ryuji and Morgana all dodged out of the way, whereas Ren just raised his arms, shrugging off most of the damage because of Silky’s ice resistance.

“Pffft, that all you got?” Ren taunted. Ren darted off to the side, drawing the demon’s attacks his way, allowing the others to flank him. Ryuji saw an opening and ripped off his mask, summoning Captain Kidd and with a flash of blue flames, Ryuji ordered him to ram the demon with his ship.

“Tear ‘em apart!” Ryuji yelled as Captain Kidd glided through the air and braced for impact, smacking right into the demon’s side, staggering it slightly. Ann came running up to Ryuji’s side and summoned Carmen.

“Carmen, light him up!” Ann commanded. With a puff of her cigar and a wave of her hand, Carmen’s hand crackled and sizzled, shooting a ball of fire directly at the dazed demon, causing him to fall off his porcelain throne and onto the ground. Ren saw the demon was no longer targeting him, so he pulled off his mask and summoned Doyle.

“Doyle, Rip and Tear!” Ren commanded and Doyle obeyed, charging at the demon with his axe above his head, slashing it across the demon. Seeing that the demon was weak, Morgana dashed in and ordered everyone to follow his lead, initiating an all-out attack. Ren and Morgana started slashing and dashing around the demon with their blades while Ryuji whacked him over the head with his pipe. Ann reached out her hand and felt the blue flames form around her it. The flames quickly faded again, leaving only a whip. An smirked as she tightly gripped the whip and began lashing out at the demon with everything she had. In a matter of moments, the demon faded into a plume of black smoke. Everyone was left exhausted from the fight, the sounds of heavy breathing escaping from everyone’s mouths.

“Argh… Where did… Kamoshida… go!?” Ann mumbled, feeling as if all energy had been sucked from her body. She struggled onto her feet in an attempt to go after him, but Ryuji stopped her.

“Ann, chill… Kamoshida can wait… We need to get out… Now.” He said between pants for air.

“Ryuji’s right. Besides, I’m worried about Ren here. He just awoken to his persona this morning and he’s already had to exert himself so much.” Morgana stated, standing over Ren’s passed out body. Ann’s eyes bulged as she saw Ren’s body lying on the ground and quickly ran over to him and Morgana. She grabbed him by the shoulders and rested him on her lap, checking to see if he was breathing. Ann let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding when she saw his chest rise and fall, indicating he was still alive, just unconscious.

“Thank God…” Ann sighed as she rubbed her eyes. Ryuji walked up to them and offered to help carry Ren out. The two blondes picked Ren up and slung an arm over their shoulders and made their way to the exit, guided by Morgana.

“So, what do we do about Ren when we get out? We can’t just leave him at the school.” Ryuji asked.

“We don’t know how long he’ll be out, so we’ll probably need to take him home.” Ann replied.

“Okay, but where’s he stay though? He never told me.”

“His place is in Yongen.”

“Yongen? Have you been there?”

“Yesterday, actually.”

“Oh yeah, Ren mentioned he was hangin’ out with you. Did he really invite you to his place when he just met you?” Ryuji said with a cheeky grin. Ann blushed slightly.

“I-It’s not like that! He stays at a café, so he invited me over for coffee.”

“A café? Why the heck’s he staying at a café?”

“It’s not my place to say. He’ll probably tell you when he wakes up though.”

“Alright… Anyway, are we near the exit Morgana?”

“Yeah, we’ll be out in a sec… And hey, would be okay if I left with you guys?” The cat asked.

“I guess… Are you able to leave this place though?” Ann responded.

“I don’t see why I can’t. I just need to use the same exit you guys used.”

“Uh… Alright. Anyway, let’s hurry on outta here, Ren-Ren is a lot heavier than he looks.” Ryuji muttered. The group soon made their way back to the real world and Ren was still passed out. They were joined by Morgana, who took the form an actual cat, and he was able to talk too; this didn’t really surprise them though, considering what happened to everyone just moments prior. Ryuji offered to carry Ren on his back while Ann carried their bags, and the trio made their way to the train station.

“Ann?” Came a soft female’s voice, Ann, recognizing the voice, turned around and flashed a bright smile.

“Shiho!”

“Um… What are you doing? And why is Sakamoto-kun carrying that boy?” Shiho asked. Ren stirred slightly, opening his eye’s to find he was on Ryuji’s back.

“Oh, uhm… R-Ren’s just really tired so…” Ann stuttered.

“You can let me down Ryuji.” Ren said, startling both blondes.

“Oh shit! Dude, don’t scare me like that.” Ryuji said as he let Ren down. Ren wobbled a bit, but quickly found his footing. He looked up and noticed a new face amongst the group. It was a girl around Ren’s age. She had brown eyes and black hair done in a ponytail, she wore a white Shujin sweater and plaid skirt, along with short white socks and sneakers. She also wore a knee compression sleeve on her right leg.

“Jeez, why do so many cute girls go to this school?” Ren thought to himself.

“Ren…? Oh, isn’t he the transfer student? Wait, you guys are already on a first name basis?” Shiho asked, surprised that Ann was already acquainted with him.

“Uh… I… uh…” Ann embarrassingly mumbled, “R-Remember that g-guy I told you about yesterday…?” She stammered out, looking down at the ground as if it was suddenly the most interesting thing she’s ever seen. Shiho looked at her friend, then at Ren, a wide grin suddenly spreading across her face.

“Oh? I didn’t think you had a thing for ‘bad-boys’ Ann.” Shiho said with a grin, Ann’s cheeks turned slightly red at her comment.

“S-Shiho! I-It’s not like that! And Ren’s not a ‘bad-boy’, he’s actually really sweet!” Ann blurted out, quickly covering her mouth as she realized what she said. Ren was blushing profusely while Ryuji just giggled.

“Just kidding, Ann. I figured those rumors where false anyway, they usually are.” Shiho said.

“Oh no, those rumors are completely true. I’m bad to the bone, couldn’t you tell.” Reb chimed in, earning a giggle from Shiho.

“Yep, definitely not a bad boy. A comedian sounds more likely” Shiho joked, crossing her arms and letting out a big smile.

“My name is Shiho Suzui, nice to meet you.” She said.

“Ren Amamiya, nice to meet you too.” Ren replied, slightly nodding his head.

“So what are you all doing here? School ended nearly two hours ago, you know?” Shiho questioned. The three teens panicked, thinking of a good excuse when Ann noticed the black and white cat that was with them, quickly picking him up and showing it to Shiho.

“W-We were looking for Ren’s pet cat. He followed him to school and… then he ran off somewhere, but we managed to find him… yeah” She mumbled, earning a glare from Morgana.

“I am **not** a cat!” Morgana exclaimed. Ren was surprised to find Morgana had come back with them, but didn’t react.

“Yeah, he’s my pet cat, Morgana.” Ren said coolly.

“Aw, he’s adorable!” Shiho said as she began scratching behind the cats ears.

“Hey, wait! I’m not a… **_prrrrrr prrrrrr_** ”

“Well, since we got a whole group here, anyone wanna get some food? I’m starvin’ here.” Ryuji said, tapping his stomach.

“Ooh, you guys wanna come to my place? I can ask my uncle to make us curry.” Ren responded, “You’re welcome to join us, Shiho.”

“Oh… well if Ann’s going to be there, I don’t see why not.” Shiho accepted the invitation to eat at Ren’s place with the others.

The group made their way to the station and quickly boarded the first train. The teens made idle conversation on the ride to Yongen.

“So Ren-Ren, is skating easy to learn?” Ryuji asked.

“It can be, depending how serious you are about learning.” Ren replied.

“Huh, I guess that’s good news, ‘cause I ain’t ever touched a board in my life.”

“Wanna see mine?’

“Huh, oh sure, lemme see!” Ryuji said excitedly. Ren reached into his bag and pulled out his board; amazingly, the board was still in one piece, considering everything they’ve all been through today.

“Wow… this looks sick. Black and red, just like your costume.” Ryuji said, earning a light jab to the shoulder from Ren.

“The hell was that for?” Ryuji asked, Ren just nudged his head towards Shiho. Shiho didn’t seem to notice though, too absorbed in her conversation with Ann.

“Chill dude, she’s not payin’ attention to us. Anyway, what’s it say here?”

“It says ‘Deathwish’; it’s the name of the company.”

“Wow, that’s pretty sick. Think you could show me some tricks?” Ryuji asked. Ren looked around the empty train cart to see if he had enough space. He grinned at Ryuji, grabbed his board and stood up.

“Sure.” Ren replied, getting a confused look from his blonde friend. Ren dropped the board and put both feet on; his right foot on the tail of the board and his left close to the middle. He crouched down and jumped up and used his feet to horizontally flip the board 360 degrees, and then landed back down.

“That was a kickflip.” Ren said coolly, he then flashed a cocky grin as he saw the looks of awe the other teens had in their eyes, even Morgana was impressed.

“Dude, that was sick! Think I could try?” Ryuji yelled.

“Not now. If you wanna walk, you gotta crawl first.” Ren replied. The group continued talking as they approached their stop. They exited their train as they made it to Yongen-Jaya, Ren then led everyone to Café Leblanc for some lunch.

The bell above the door jingled as Ren and co entered the café.

“Ah, you’re ba… The hell happened to you, kid?” Sojiro said with concern.

“I got jumped on my way to school.” Ren replied coolly.

“Are you alright? You’re not hurt are you?” Sojiro asked as he rushed up to Ren to check his bruises.

“You should see the other guy.” Ren said with a chuckle. Ann just sighed.

“Are you really reusing the same joke, Ren?”

“Hey, if it’s a good joke…” He shrugged. Suddenly, one of the patrons of the café stood up from their seat in the booth and walked up to Ren.

“If you don’t mind, I could give you an examination. I have a clinic not far from here” The customer offered. Ren’s eyes widened as he eyed the customer. It was a woman, and a gorgeous one at that. She had a short dark-blue bob and brown eyes. Ren’s eyes traveled lower down, noticing the choker necklace, form-fitting teal colored short dress, leather jacket and ripped stockings she wore. Ren’s cheeks were as red as a tomato, and he continued to stare, mouth agape. Ann pouted and pinched Ren’s cheek, getting him out of his stupor.

“Ah… Um… I-I… Clinic… Y-Yes…” Ren stuttered, earning a slight giggle from the lady.

“Well, I’ll leave you be for now, I’d rather not anger your girlfriend any further. Thanks for the coffee boss.” She said, giving Sojiro a nod as she left. As she walked, she noticed Ann’s face was flushed red, causing her to let out another soft giggle. Ren and Ann both stood still, staring off into space, both flustered for different reasons; Ryuji and Shiho just snickered behind them. Sojiro cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the teens, he looked at Ren and gave him a smirk.

“You must’ve had an exciting day. You get mugged and you end up making two new friends.” Sojiro chuckled, “Welcome to Leblanc you two, you can call me Boss.”

“Hi, It’s nice to meet you Boss. My name is Shiho Suzui.”

“And I’m Ryuji Sakamoto.”

“Nice to meet you, and thanks for looking out for this little troublemaker. Take a seat and I’ll serve you up some coffee and curry.”

“I’m gonna head upstairs real quick, I’ll join you at the booth in a sec.” Ren said as he quickly went up to his room.

Once upstairs, Ren opened up his bag, letting the cat out.

“Ah, finally, some fresh air.” Morgana said as he walked around the room, “So, this is your room? It’s uh… Not quite what I was expecting.”

“Eh, It’s fine.” Ren shrugged, “Anyway, I need you to sit tight up here and not make any noise. I’ll bring you some food later.”

“What? Why must I stay up here?”

“Because my uncle will throw you out if he sees you. Anyway, later.” Ren said as he took off his blazer and hoodie, placing them down on a table before walking back down. Ren took a seat at the booth next to Ryuji who was sitting across from the girls.

“Yo, Ren-Ren, this place is pretty neat. Do you actually live here?” Ryuji asked.

“Yep, right upstairs.” Ren replied.

“Oh yeah, I wanted to ask earlier, but why’d you come to Japan? Didn’t like living in America?” Ryuji asked. Ren and Ann cringed, Shiho gave a quizzical look.

“You lived in America, Amamiya-kun?” Shiho asked.

“Yeah…” Ren sighed, “…The reason I moved to Japan is because I’m on probation.”

“Probation?” Ryuji and Shiho blurted out, Ann put a hand on Shiho’s shoulder.

“Relax Shiho, just let Ren explain the whole story.” She said, giving Ren a nod to continue. Ren sighed and nodded back. He proceeded retelling the story he told Ann to the others, of how he rescued a woman from a drunk man forcing himself upon her, to his false arrest and his court case. When Ren wrapped up, Shiho gave him a sympathetic smile while Ryuji just looked pissed off.

“Dude, that’s bullshit!” Ryuji said.

“Yeah, I’m really sorry you had to experience all of that Amamiya-kun.” Shiho added.

“It’s alright guys, I’m over it at this point; and please, Ren is just fine.”

“Oh? Well then you can just call me Shiho then.” Shiho said with a soft smile.

As the group continued talking, Sojiro placed four plates of curry down for them, each person took a bite and Sojiro gave a slight smirk as he saw the satisfied looks on all the teens faces.

“Holy crap, this is delicious!” Ryuji exclaimed, “You seriously get to eat this every day?”

“Pretty much.”

“Dude…”

“This curry is amazing. I think I’m in love.” Shiho added.

“Yeah, and I thought the coffee was good.” Ann chimed in. The teens continued eating their meal, chatting in between mouthfuls of curry. After the girls finished their meals they paid and thanked Sojiro for the meal and left for the station, Ren and Ryuji stayed behind and continued chatting.

“Yo, so what was up with you with that lady earlier?” Ryuji asked.

“Dude… Goth girls are like my kryptonite.” Ren replied

“Really? I kinda had a feeling you were into Ann.”

“Wha- How did you know I like Ann?”

“You two make it too obvious.”

“Okay, since you know who I like, what about you? Any girls you’ve been crushing on?” Ren asked, trying to change the focus from him onto Ryuji.

“Uhhhh… Don’t laugh okay, and you better not tell Ann!” Ryuji pleaded.

“Why would I tell… wait… Dude, do you like Shiho?” Ren responded, grinning slightly.

“I mean… she was with me an Ann in middle school… and I kinda had a thing for her back then.”

“What about now?”

“I… Kinda still do…”

“You ask her out at all?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Because… I dunno how to talk to girls.”

“You were talking just fine earlier.”

“That’s different; what I mean is I suck at all that flirting stuff.”

“Ah, I see. Look Ryuji, all you’ve gotta do is be yourself. Don’t worry about flirting, just don’t be weird or be a dick, then you’ll do just fine.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“Hey, it’s only as difficult as you make it.”

**_*Ring Ring*_ **

The boy’s conversation was interrupted by sound of Ryuji’s phone.

“Aw crap, sorry Ren-Ren, but I gotta run; mom needs me to grab dinner for tonight. See ya tomorrow!” Ryuji said as he hurriedly got out from the booth to pay Sojiro and leave. Ren walked up to his room to check if his furry friend was doing alright.

“Hey Morgana, you doing alright?” Ren asked.

“Jeez, you guys took forever down there. I was getting bored here on my own.” Morgana replied.

“Sorry. How’s about I get you a snack as an apology?”

“Oh, I want sushi!”

“Something that I can actually afford please?” Ren said, scratching the back of his neck. Suddenly, Ren heard footsteps coming from the stairs. , he quickly turned to face Morgana.

“Quick, hide!” Ren whispered, trying to not alert Sojiro to the furry guest Ren brought home. It was no use though, as Sojiro quickly spotted the cat as he reached the top.

“I thought I heard meowing up here. Why’d you bring a cat here?” Sojiro asked, sounding mildly irritated.

“Oh this, uh… The poor guy didn’t have a home, so I thought maybe I could take care of him.” Ren said, to which Sojiro just sighed.

“This is a restaurant you know?” Sojiro stated, “Although, maybe it would look good on your probation report that you’re looking after a pet. I guess you can keep it, just make sure he’s not downstairs while we’re open, got it?”

“Wait, so you’re letting me keep him?”

“Just remember he’s your responsibility.” Sojiro said with a smirk as he headed downstairs, returning a moment later with a plate of food.

“Here.” Sojiro said as he placed the plate in front of Morgana.

“Wow Boss, who’d have thought you were such a softie for animals?” Ren joked.

“What? He just had to keep calling out in that cute little voice. Anyway, I’m gonna close up for the day, goodnight.”

“Night boss.”

As Sojiro left, Ren quickly got out of his uniform to put on his pajamas, but stopped when he noticed the scar across his chest.

“Oh damn, I nearly forgot about this. Jeez, it’s been one hell of a day today.” Ren mumbled to himself. He changed his clothes and went straight for the bed. He collapsed onto the bed and passed out almost instantly. Ren’s day was for more hectic than he could have ever predicted, he was just glad he could finally relax… at least, he thought.

“Wake up, Inmate!” Caroline shouted, smacking her baton against the bars. Ren lifted his head slightly to face the twins.

“Oh for the love of…!” He yelled, laying his head down to go back to sleep.

“Who do you think you’re talking to, Inmate! Get up right now!” Caroline commanded. Ren, not wanting to prolong his time in this weird dream, reluctantly got out of bed.

“Welcome back, Trickster.” Igor said, Ren just yawned in response.

“It seems you have already awoken to your Persona. Well done.” Igor continued.

“So is this part of that “rehabilitation” you mentioned?” Ren questioned, earning a chuckle from Igor.

“My, you’re quite the perceptive guest. Yes, this is all part of your rehabilitation, and will help you avoid the coming ruin.”

“So how exactly do these Palaces help me prevent this “ruin thing you keep talking about?”

“In due time, for now, I offer you a gift…” Igor said as he snapped his fingers. Ren’s eyes suddenly started burning and he fell to his knees, clutching his eyes.

“Ah fuck! That hurts!” Ren cried.

“I have granted you the ability of the Third Eye. I’m sure you will find this useful while traversing the Metaverse.”

“Jeez, give a heads up next time.”

“Be grateful, Inmate! Our master has given you a gift, so show some appreciation!” Caroline chided.

“Jesus, how does something so tiny manage to be so loud?” Ren said, much to Caroline’s annoyance.

“What was that, Inmate!?”

“I said you’re loud. Can’t you be more like your sister over here?” Ren said, getting a little giggle out of Justine. Ren and Caroline would continue bickering for a moment until Igor cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention.

“Trickster, must you rile up the wardens?” Igor asked.

“She started it.” Ren muttered.

“What!?” Caroline exclaimed.

“No matter, I am not interested in such trifle matters. Now, there is one more thing I would like to address, regarding your comrades.”

“Comrades…? Do you mean Ann and Ryuji?

“Yes, these comrades of yours shall help you in your rehabilitation. Continue strengthening your bonds with them if you wish to avoid ruin; use even myself to aid in your rehabilitation.”

“Alright… So are we done now? I wanna get back to sleep.”

“Very well, our time is almost up anyhow. Return to your rest, Trickster.”

“Work on your manners while you’re gone, you got that inmate!” Caroline barked.

“Yeah yeah, whatever. Later you guys.” Ren muttered tiredly, Justine smiled and nodded her head slightly.

“Sweet dreams, Inmate.”

The alarm for the Velvet Room rang and Ren’s vision began to fade. When it came back, he found himself lying on his bed with Morgana sleeping on his chest, Ren sighed, carefully removing the cat from his chest.

“Let’s hope today won’t be as hectic as yesterday.”


	6. Go With The Flow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Song is Go With The Flow by Queens Of The Stone Age  
> -Sorry if this chapter is a bit shorter than the others. I plan on having the next chapter much longer though, which should be done before the end of the week.

_12/04/2016_

_Tokyo, Japan_

_Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya_

Ren woke up exhausted, feeling as if he had barely slept at all, likely due to the dream in the Velvet Room.

“Jeez, why do I need to have these weird dreams?” Ren asked no one in particular, “Why can’t I have dreams where I’m hanging out with Tony Hawk or something cool like that?” Ren continued as he quietly got dressed, trying his best not to wake Morgana. Once he was finished, He grabbed his bag and his board and went downstairs.

“Morning, kid.” Sojiro said as he was polishing the counter.

“Morning.” Ren tiredly replied.

“Wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?” Sojiro joked, gesturing Ren to take a seat, “Here, hopefully some food can get your energy up.”

“Thanks Boss.” Ren thanked Sojiro as he sat down at the counter. Sojiro set down a plate of curry and Ren devoured it in seconds. After he finished eating, he thanked Sojiro again and darted out of the café with his renewed curry energy. Ren took out his phone and plugged in his earphones looking for some music for the ride to school.

_‘Now Playing: Reservoir – PUP’_

With a smirk, Ren took a run up and threw down his board, quickly hopping on and rode his way to the station, slipping past pedestrians and laughing as he startled them as he zipped by. Ren made it to the station and hopped off his board, quickly sliding down the stairs via the railing and hopping onto the first available train. As expected, the train was packed and Ren was being squashed like a sardine.

“Jeez, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get used to this.” Ren muttered to himself, suddenly Ren felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out and saw a text from his sister, Emi.

**Emi:** Hey Ren, Sorry I forgot to message you yesterday, I’ve been busy with school stuff. How was your first day?

 **Ren:** Eventful…

 **Emi:** Oh? Care to explain?

 **Ren:** Ended up in a weird shadow dimension

 **Emi:** lol

 **Emi:** Come on, be serious. Was your first day that bad?

 **Ren:** No, I actually made some friends

 **Emi:** That’s good to hear. So… Any girls? (｡◕‿◕｡)

 **Ren:** Wouldn’t you like to know ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 **Emi:** Ren!? Come on, you can’t keep secrets from your big sister, that’s illegal (ง'̀-'́)ง

 **Ren:** Well, I am a criminal after all ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ

 **Emi:** LOL

 **Emi:** Since you’re joking about it, I take it you’re not feeling too down about it

 **Ren:** I mean, it sucks, but I’m over it. And yes, there is this cute girl that I met

 **Emi:** OOH! Spill the tea! I need deets!

 **Ren:** Another time, My train’s about to stop

 **Emi:** Laaaaaame! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

 **Ren:** Later sis, say hi to mom and dad for me!

 **Emi:** Will do!

 **Ren:** | (• ◡•)|

 **Emi:** (❍ᴥ❍ʋ)

Ren smiled as he put his phone away, feeling much less tired than he was earlier that morning.

“I should send them a video call sometime, I’m sure mom and dad wanna see how I’m doing over here.” Ren said to himself. The train came to a stop and Ren hopped out, he then made his way to the Ginza line to board the next train to school. As Ren was walking, he spotted some students from Shujin. He ignored them and went to lean against a pillar while waiting for the train. Ren put a hand on his phone and boosted the volume up to max, so he wouldn’t have to hear the annoying gossip from the students. While waiting for the train, Ren felt a hand lightly tap his shoulder, he turned his head and was greeted by two familiar faces, Ann and Shiho. Ren pulled out his earphones and flashed them a bright smile.

“Morning, you two.” Ren greeted.

“Morning Ren.” Both girls said in unison, earning a light giggle from Ren.

“Fancy bumping into you guys here, you two travel together?” Ren asked.

“Yeah, we usually do. Ann’s basically attached herself to my hip.” Shiho joked, much to Ann’s embarrassment.

“S-Shiho! Come on, you’re doing this on purpose.” Ann said, albeit very flustered.

“On purpose? Whatever do you mean Ann?” Shiho asked, pretending to be offended.

“You’re trying to get me flustered!” Ann replied, glaring at her friend,

“And why would I do that, Ann?” Shiho asked in a fake-innocent tone

“Because Re-“ Ann blurted out, quickly stopping herself before she could continue, nearly falling into Shiho’s trap. Shiho flashed her a mischievous grin. Ren just smiled at the girls, happy to see the camaraderie between the two of them. Suddenly, his mood shifted as he overheard some students talking behind their backs.

“Jeez, that transfer’s really getting close to that Takamaki girl.” Said one girl.

“Is she seriously gonna two-time Kamoshida sensei like that?” Replied another.

“What does he see in her anyway? Bet she’s a total bimbo bitch.” A third chimed in.

“I heard she’s willing to spread her legs for anyone.”

“Poor Kamoshida. Takamaki’s totally taking advantage of him.”

Ren noticed Ann and Shiho both visibly cringe as they heard the rumors too, and Ren was pissed. Ren didn’t care if the rumors were about him, but he was not gonna sit back if it involved his friends. Ren put his hands in his pocket and walked over to the gossiping girls, his face was stern, and his grey eyes were full of fire. The girls noticed Ren approach, but were too petrified to move. Ren stood about a meter away from them before he spoke.

“You wanna say that shit again?” Ren said, his voice deep and menacing.

“Uh… say what?” One of the girls nervously replied.

“Don’t play dumb. What was that shit you were saying about Ann?” Ren said as he towered over the three girls.

“Um… We… U-Um…” Another stuttered, on the verge of tears. Ren just stood still, his eyes glaring intensely over the three girls. Ann approached Ren and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Ren! Stop!” She yelled, getting Ren’s attention.

“But they’re lying about you.” Ren responded, his voice slightly dropping in intensity.

“It’s fine, let’s just go before the train shows up.”

“No.”

“No?”

“Not until they apologize to you.” Ren said, glaring back at the other three girls.

“W-We’re sorry!” All three girls said as they bowed in unison, quickly scampering off in fear of angering Ren more. Ren sighed and looked back at Ann.

“All done, we can go now.” He said with a slight grin. Ann just sighed.

“You didn’t have to do all that, you know.” She said, slightly annoyed.

“I know, but I wanted to.” Ren replied nonchalantly.

“Why? I thought you said the rumors about you didn’t bother you?”

“They don’t, but rumors involving the people I care about do.” Ren said calmly, getting a slight blush out of Ann. Ren smiled as he and Ann walked back to Shiho.

“Wow, remind me not to get you angry.” Shiho joked, earning a slight chuckle out of Ren. The trio continued chatting until the train arrived, they hopped on and made their way to Aoyama-Itchome station. The ride to school was as cramped as the last one, but at least this time he had friends to talk to. They arrived at their stop and began walking to school, chatting away as they walked to the entrance.

“So, Ren, you wanna join us for lunch later?” Ann asked.

“Sure, but uh… What about Ryuji?” Ren responded.

“He can come too; besides, I wanted to talk about what happened yesterday.”

“Alright, wanna meet on the roof?”

“Sure, sounds like a plan."

Ann walked with Shiho to her class while Ren walked around the hallway, waiting for the bell to ring. Everywhere Ren went, he received wary looks from other students, carefully trying to avoid him. His ears perked up as he noticed someone talking about him.

“I heard he harassed a bunch of girls at the station this morning.” One boy said.

“Jeez, this guy really is trouble. We should probably steer clear of him.” Replied another.

Ren sighed as he continued walking. He made his way to his classroom and sat down.

“Jeez, that spread around a lot faster than I thought it would.” He thought. To distract himself, Ren pulled out a note pad and a pencil from his bag and began sketching whatever was on his mind. The first thing that popped into his head was Doyle, his Persona he had awoken to yesterday. Ren did his best to recapture the large hulking figure onto the page from memory; capturing all the details, from the skull-face and mohawk, to the black leather pants and boots he wore. Ren finished his rough sketch after a few minutes, looking very pleased with the outcome.

“Hmm… If I get some cardboard and some spray-paint, this would make some kick-ass stencil art.” Ren said to himself.

“Wow, that looks really cool!” Exclaimed a boy that walked up to Ren’s desk. Ren looked up and noticed one of his classmates now hovering over him. The boy had short brown hair that was parted off to the side, brown eyes and the regular Shujin uniform, but with black sneakers instead of school shoes.

“Oh uh, thanks, I guess.” Ren replied, scratching the back of his neck.

“Hey, Amamiya-kun, you skate, right?” The boy asked.

“Err… Yeah, why?” Ren answered, curious as to why this boy that he hasn’t spoken to before knew about his hobby. The boy pulled out his phone and showed it to Ren, playing a video of the time he was skating in Shibuya two days ago.

“This is you in the video, right? He’s got the curly hair and glasses, as well as the Shujin uniform, just like you!” The boy enthusiastically exclaimed.

“Woah, cool it down dude.” Ren said, trying to calm his fellow classmate down, “Yeah, that’s me in the video, what do you want?”

“Well you see, I skate too! I really wanted to start a skateboard club here at school, but nobody else here skates, so I was wondering if you’d maybe wanna join.”

“A skating club?” Ren questioned.

“Yeah, a club where we can just talk about skateboarding and practicing tricks and stuff!”

“You sure you want me in your club? I don’t exactly have the best reputation at this school.”

“I mean, I was a bit hesitant to ask you at first, but you seem like an alright guy. So, you in?”

“Dude, I don’t even know who you are.”

“Oh right, my name is Tatsuya Sato.”

“Err… Alright. Look, Sato-kun, let me sleep on it, okay? I’m still trying to get used to this school, so I don’t know about joining any clubs right now.” Ren said, trying to let Sato down gently.

“Oh sure, I understand. But please, let me know once you come to a decision.” Sato said with a bow before he went to his seat on the other end of the classroom. Ren sighed.

“Skateboard club huh?” Ren muttered to himself, “Maybe some other time, when I’m not dealing with a creepy PE teacher.”

Ann returned to class just as the bell rang, the two teens went through their first few classes without much issue; apart from Mr. Ushimura trying to throw Ren with chalk again, which he dodged once again. The bell rang for lunch, Ren made his way to the roof while Ann went to fetch Shiho and Ryuji from their class. As Ren made his way up, he bumped into the last person he wanted to see… Kamoshida.

“Ah, if it isn’t the infamous transfer student.” Kamoshida said with smug little grin.

“I have a name, you know.” Ren replied coolly.

“Oh yeah? Well trash like you don’t deserve to be called by their names.” Kamoshida taunted.

“You know what, I agree. Guess I’ll call you whatever the hell I feel like then.” Ren replied, a cocky smile forming on his lips. Some nearby students overheard the conversation and stared at the teacher and student. Kamoshida’s smirk changed into a scowl at Ren’s retort.

“What did you just say!?” Kamoshida barked.

“What, need me to spell it out for you? I. Implied. You. Were. Trash.” Ren responded, his smirk only growing more.

“Tch…” Was all Kamoshida could utter as he walked off. Ren flipped him of as he walked, getting multiple gasps from the surrounding students. Ren in turn, walked upstairs towards the roof, smirking every step of the way as he ignored the gossiping students in the hallway.

Once on the roof, Ren grabbed a seat by the desks a raised his feet on the table. Ren stuck his hand into his bag and pulled out his drawing from earlier. Ren turned to the next page and began another sketch, this time of Ann’s persona, Carmen. Ren found this one a bit more challenging, since he didn’t remember much of the fight from Ann’s awakening, still, he persisted and managed to get most of the drawing done. Ren took a moment to examine his work, admiring how well his drawing was coming along.

“Yeah, I definitely need to make this into some stencil art. All I need to do is find a spot I can tag this.” Ren thought to himself. Ren’s focus was broken when he heard the door to the roof open, revealing Ann, Shiho and Ryuji.

“Yo Ren-Ren, what’s up?” Ryuji asked. Ren looked up and smirked,

“The sky.” He replied, facing Ryuji and flashing that same smug grin he showed Kamoshida earlier. All three teens groaned.

“Hey Ren, remember when I called you a comedian yesterday? I take it back.” Shiho joked, getting a chuckle out of the two blondes, Ren just pouted. They all sat down by the desks to enjoy their lunch, Ren didn’t bring anything, so he carried on drawing.

“You not gonna eat lunch dude?” Ryuji asked.

“Didn’t bring any.” Ren replied as he raised his pencil off the pad, “Done.”

“With what?” Ann asked, Ren passed the pad over to Ann, she gasped as she looked at the drawing.

“Ren… This is amazing!” Ann exclaimed, her eyes wide in amazement of the quality of Ren’s drawing. Ryuji and Shiho peered over Ann’s shoulder and were equally as amazed at the sight.

“Dude, that’s kick-ass! Where’d you learn to draw like that?” Ryuji asked.

“On my own.” Ren replied.

“Okay, so you’re **not** a bad boy and you’re **not** a comedian, but you’re definitely an artist.” Shiho joked.

“I prefer ‘street-artist’, but that works.”

“Uh, is there a difference?” Ryuji asked.

“Artists show off their work in galleries, I just spray paint my stuff wherever; like on a billboard or in an alley or under a bridge. Stuff like that.” Ren answered.

“Wow, that sounds really fun. Think I could try it?” Ann asked, looking eagerly at Ren for his answer.

“Sure. Its been a while since I last tagged something, so it should be fun.” Ren replied, Ann raised her hands in excitement, Shiho giggled by her side.

“You guys continue your little talk, I’m going to go to the bathroom. I’ll be back in a second.” Shiho said as she got up and made her way to the door. Once Shiho was gone, Ren cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the two blondes.

“Alright, now that Shiho’s gone, let’s talk about yesterday and our plans going forward.” Ren said, to which the others nodded in agreement. Ren leaned forward on the table, resting his chin on his hands.

“Ryuji, do you still remember all those faces from yesterday?” Ren asked, directing his gaze at Ryuji, who nodded in response.

“Yep. I decided to look through our old year book from last year and managed to get their names too.” Ryuji said proudly, he then pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket with the names and grades of the volleyball members.

“Nice work Ryuji, this’ll make my job easier. So, during the rally tomorrow, I’m gonna sneak out and get some info from everyone on this list.” Ren said as he scanned the names on the list.

“Oh, what should I do?” Ann asked.

“You’ll be coming with me. I’m gonna need someone to watch my back in case any teachers come snooping around.” Ren replied.

“Alright, got it!” Ann said with a nod.

“What about me? I don’t wanna just sit through a boring volleyball rally. Can’t I just join you guys?” Ryuji pleaded.

“I guess you could keep lookout too, unless we half the list and you go asking around on your own, would that be fine with you?”

“Works for me!” Ryuji said, shrugging his arms and flashing a smile. Ren was about to conclude their impromptu meeting when he was suddenly cut off by a familiar high pitched voice.

“There you guys are! I finally found you!” Came the voice. Ren tilted his head in the direction of the voice and was met with the sight of a familiar tuxedo cat, Morgana.

“Morgana?” Ren blurted out in confusion, “The hell are you doing here?”

“Looking for you guys, duh! Jeez, I can’t believe you left me at home, do you have any idea how long it took me to get here?”

“Uh, Morgana… Did you really come here all the way from Yongen?” Ann asked, raising an eyebrow.

“For you, Lady Ann, I would travel across the entire world.” Morgana replied, everyone at the table was cringing internally at the cat’s remark.

“But that’s not why I came here, I wanted to discuss my plan with you guys.” Morgana continued.

“Plan?” Everyone at the table asked in unison, Morgana hopped onto their table and flashed the smuggest little smile a cat could make.

“Mwehehe, that’s right. My plan to steal Kamoshida’s treasure.”

“And this concerns us, how?” Ryuji questioned the cat.

“You guys hate Kamoshida, right? If you guys help me take his treasure, you’ll be able to change his heart!”

“Change his heart?” Ann asked.

“The treasure in Kamoshida’s palace is formed from his twisted desires, you all know this. If we take his treasure, he loses his desires, and without his desires, he’ll confess all his sins.” Morgana explained, earning a look of surprise from everyone at the table.

“For real!?” Ryuji blurted out as he jumped out of his seat, “That’s amazing! Maybe we don’t even need to ask the volleyball team tomorrow, we can just go back in there and steal the treasure!” He continued, Ren held up a hand to get Ryuji to calm down.

“Slow down Ryuji.” Ren said calmly as he turned to face Morgana, “That sounds way too good to be true. What’s the catch?” He said sternly as he eyed Morgana.

“Well…” Morgana muttered, breaking eye contact.

“Well?” Ren repeated.

“As I’ve said before, a treasure is formed from twisted desires. Desires are what drives us, and without desires… We lose our will to eat, sleep, etcetera. So after we take his desires away… Kamoshida will lose his desire to live, we’d essentially be killing him.” Morgana mumbled out.

“Killing him!?” Ann and Ryuji said in unison, both looking towards Ren for what they should do.

“Sorry Morgana, no deal.”

“What?”

“No deal, dude. We hate Kamoshida, true, but we’re not murderers. If we’re gonna put a stop to Kamoshida, we’ll do it our way.” Ren stated as he looked at the two blondes, both nodding in affirmation.

“So even after I came all this way, you still won’t accept my proposal!?”

“We didn’t ask you to come here, you came on your own expecting us to agree to your plan.” Ren replied with a smirk. Suddenly, the door to the roof opened ajar, Ren quickly grabbed Morgana but the scruff of the neck and hid him in his bag.

“Shhh!” Was all Ren said to the cat before he placed his bag down and took his seat.

“Hey guys, I’m back. Anything happen while I was gone?” Shiho asked.

“Um, we were talking about our… favorite anime!” Ann blurted out.

“Yeah, totally! Ain’t that right Ren-Ren? Oh hey, you didn’t tell us yours!” Ryuji added on, Ren had to stifle a smirk before answering.

“Cory in the House.” He answered nonchalantly.

“Huh?” Ryuji muttered in confusion.

“I doubt you guys have seen it, but it’s a pretty good show.” Ren said, trying his absolute hardest to keep up his poker face. Shiho sat back down at her seat and the group continued their lively conversation.

“You know, just sitting here talking with you guys today has probably been the most fun I’ve ever had at this school, I hope we can make this a regular thing.” Shiho said sincerely.

“Of course!” Ryuji blurted out, “You’re welcome to hang out whenever you want, Shiho. You’re really fun to be around” Ryuji added, flashing a toothy grin at Shiho, to which she giggled, Ren managed to spot a feint blush form on her cheeks.

“Good job, Ryuji!” Ren thought to himself.

The bell rang, signifying the end of lunch, and the teens packed up their stuff and went to their classes. The rest of Ren’s classes went by in a flash, mostly because he napped through half them instead of actually working. As the final bell rang, Ren and Ann got up and walked out the door.

“So, we all know the plan for tomorrow, right?” Ren asked.

“Hm-hmm, we’ll meet in the gymnasium and sneak out, then we question all the names Ryuji gave us.” Ann replied.

“Yeah.” Ren responded. As the two teens were about to head for the steps, they were stopped by Kamoshida.

“Ah, Takamaki, fancy bumping into you here.” He said with an unnervingly happy smile.

“I mean, this is my class.” She responded coldly.

“You need a lift home by any chance? There’s no volleyball practice today, so I’m free for the rest of the day. Maybe I could take you out for a bite to eat, what do you say?” Kamoshida replied, attempting to place a hand on her shoulder again. Ren quickly stepped in between them, catching Kamoshida by the wrist, giving the man a dirty look.

“Sorry **coach** , but Ann’s busy, so beat it.” Ren said calmly as Kamoshida glowered at the boy.

“Tch… Just wait until tomorrow, then you’ll be sorry!” He barked, Ren curled his lip as he let go of the teacher’s hand.

“Looking forward to it. See ya later, coach.” Ren said as he took Ann’s hand, and walked down the stairs with her. Ren tilted his head and noticed the smirk she had, as well as the intense blush across her cheeks. Ren and Ann continued to hold hands as they made their way through the school, completely ignoring all the murmurs and gawking from other students as they passed. As they walked past the school’s entrance, Ren tilted his head towards Ann.

“Hey.” He said calmly, getting her attention, Ren noticed her cheeks were still flushed red.

“After we put this whole Kamoshida thing to bed, what say we have that dinner and movie you promised me?” Ren said with a cheerful smile, a smile that Ann returned.

“I’d love to.” Ann replied, covering her blushing cheeks with her pigtail with her free hand, earning a soft chuckle from Ren. The two teens continued holding hands until they reached the station, splitting up as they each made their way home.


	7. Attitude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren plays some volleyball and the team gets a new ally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Song is Attitude by The Misfits
> 
> -Volleyball positions:  
> >Setters have the task of orchestrating the offense of the team.  
> >Liberos are defensive players who are responsible for receiving the attack or serve. They are usually the players on the court with the quickest reaction time and best passing skills.  
> >Middle blockers or Middle hitters are players that can perform very fast attacks that usually take place near the setter.  
> >Wing spikers are the players who carry the serve/receive responsibility along with the libero. They most often attack the balls which setter sets to the antenna
> 
> Big shout out to my friend Chandler for helping me with the volleyball section. I don't know the rules and he came in clutch, offering to help me write it.

_13/04/2016_

_Tokyo, Japan_

Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya

Ren woke up in his bed fully rested, thankful he didn’t have to deal with the Igor again. He hopped out of bed and proceeded with his regular morning routine: Get dressed, grab his bag, eat and leave for the station. Morgana decided to tag along for the day, so Ren stuffed him in his bag and carried his board in his hand to make some more room for him. The cat popped his head out of the bag and rested his head on Ren’s shoulder as he walked down to the train station.

“What’re you doing? Get back in the bag, cat!” Ren quietly scolded the cat.

“I’m **NOT** a cat! Also, it’s stuffy in this bag, so I’m just getting some air.” Morgana replied.

“What if someone sees you?” Ren responded back.

“Tell them to mind their own business or something, you’re supposed to be a tough guy, right?” Morgana answered, looking smug, Ren just sighed as he stepped onto the train. Ren was fortunate enough to snag a seat on the train.

“Jeez, talk about luck. I swear, it’s easier to win the lottery than find a seat on these damn trains.” Ren remarked, letting out a sigh. While Ren was getting comfortable on his seat, he spotted an old lady standing nearby.

“Hey, lady with the grey hair.” Ren said, getting the lady’s attention.

“Would you like my seat?” Ren offered as he got up from the seat.

“Oh, why thank you young man.” The lady said with a cheerful smile. She gratefully accepted Ren’s offer and sat down in the seat.

“And they say chivalry is dead. You’re quite the gentleman, young man.” The lady said.

“It’s no biggie, just happy to help.” Ren bashfully replied, scratching the back of his neck. Morgana popped his head out of the bag again.

“What’s wrong Ren, getting flustered because of an old lady?” Morgana playfully taunted.

“Quiet, cat. Or else I make you walk home.” Ren replied.

“I’m **NOT** a cat! Sheesh, how many times am I gonna have to tell you that?!”

“I mean it Morgana, I didn’t pay the pet fair, so shush.” Ren said as he shoved the cat’s head down into the bag. After a few minutes the train came to a stop. Ren exited the train and made his way over to the Ginza line. After another cramped train ride Ren made it to Aoyama-Itchome station.

As Ren was walking to Shujin, he decided now would be a good time to actually use his board; he took a quick run up and threw down his board, swiftly hopping on and began riding. Ren began bobbing and weaving past pedestrians and students alike, his lips curled up as he started making kickflips and shuvits as he continued riding past. As Ren was riding, Morgana popped his head out again.

“Jeez, can you quit it with that, I’m trying to nap in here!” Morgana scolded, Ren just smirked as he continued riding. To Morgana’s relief, Ren got off his board once he made it to the school’s entrance.

“Happy now?” Ren asked, Morgana nodded back.

“Good, now back in the bag.”

It was the day of the volleyball rally and the school was abuzz. All students were wearing their gym uniforms, so Ren quickly went to the bathroom to change. He put on his white Shujin Tee and rolled up the sleeves, revealing his shoulders, he also wore the red Shujin athletic shorts with white compression pants underneath, along with a white pair of Converse sneakers. Ren quickly made his way out of the bathroom and into his classroom to drop off Morgana and his bag, he unzipped his bag slightly to give Morgana more air.

“Alright, you stay here. If you leave and get caught, we’ll both be in trouble, got it?” Ren told the cat.

“Yeah yeah. I’ll just have to take another nap while you’re busy.” Morgana responded. Ren left his board and his bag under his desk and walked out the classroom to meet up with the others. As Ren walked through the school’s halls, it was filled with the usual chatter and gossip, and it was always about him. Ren couldn’t find Ann or Ryuji yet, so he decided to head upstairs, thinking he’d maybe find them in the library or somewhere close by. Once upstairs, Ren continued down the passage. As he turned around the corner, he was suddenly tripped and was about to fall on his face, but thanks to his many years of skateboarding, he instinctively shifted his body weight, turning around 180 degrees, landing on his butt to mitigate most of the damage. Ren looked up and saw a group of three third year students standing above him with cocky smiles on each of their faces. Ren scowled as he got up to his feet.

“So this is the delinquent transfer student, huh? He don’t look so tough.” Said one boy.

“Yeah, he’s more like a ballerina than a troublemaker.” Muttered one of his cronies.

“Haha, yeah. Bet you could take him on your own, Miyamura!” The third chimed in. Ren scanned each of their faces, then he smirked.

“Yeah, I can deal with this.” He thought to himself.

“Alright, who let the Three Stooges into the school?” Ren joked, earning a glare from the one named Miyamura.

“Tch, you’ve got a sharp mouth, for a punk kid.”

“Yeah, I’ve also got arms, legs, a whole body and a really handsome face too; can’t say the same for you though.”

“Know your place, dipshit! You might have a reputation because of those rumors, but we’re the real kings of this school, you understand?”

“So you guys are just a bunch of prep-school bullies, eh? God, could you three be anymore pathetic.”

“You talk tough, but I bet you can’t back it up.”

“Heh, try me. I’m not scared of you.”

“You should be!”

“And yet, here we are…” Ren said with a cocksure grin. Ren slowly walked right up to Miyamura until the two were face to face, putting a hand on his shoulder as he leaned closer to him.

“Listen, if you wanna fuck with me, go ahead, but I’ve got more important shit to deal with right now and you three aren’t even in my top ten. Give me a few days, then I’ll kick your ass whenever is most convenient for you.” Ren said with the grin still plastered across his face. He turned around and walked towards the library, letting out another chuckle as he heard the three students quietly walk off somewhere. Ren stopped when he heard the students in the hallway talking about what had happened.

“Did you see that? The transfer scared off Miyamura and his goons!”

“Wow, he really is scary.”

“Hope he doesn’t come after me.”

Ren turned to face the gossiping students, they all stood still as he looked their way.

“You don’t have to worry about that; as long as you aren’t being an asshole to me, I’ll leave you alone.” Ren said before turning around and entering the library. The library was mostly empty, no sign of any blonde haired teens anywhere.

“Not here huh? Might as well grab a book while I’m here.” Ren thought to himself.

“Um, excuse me…” Muttered a soft female voice, grabbing Ren’s attention.

“Yo.” Ren answered the girl, giving her a light smile and a wave.

“Um, I haven’t seen you around here before, this is your first time in the library, yes?” The girl politely asked.

“Yeah.” Ren replied.

“Well then, please allow me to explain the rules. You’re allowed to borrow one book at a time for as long as you need, and there are no late fees. You are allowed to use the library to read or study, just don’t disturb any of the other students.” The girl continued.

“’Kay.” Was all Ren said to her. Suddenly, the girls eyes widened as if she just realized something important.

“Oh… Um, you wouldn’t happen to be that new transfer student, are you?” She muttered.

“What if I am?” Ren replied, sounding mildly annoyed. The girl just stared down at the table in front of her, Ren just let out a sigh.

“Yes, I’m the transfer. Jeez, at least call me by my name.”

“Oh, sorry… I didn’t mean to upset you… I-It’s just that…” She tried to say but was cut off by Ren,

“I’m too scary? I’m gonna cause trouble for other people? Nobody wants me here?” Ren began listing off the many things the students have been circulating about him, giving the poor girl an intense glare, but stopped when he noticed the terrified look on her face. Ren let out a sigh as his expression softened.

“Sorry, that was uncalled for. I’m gonna go grab a book to check out then I’ll be out of your hair.” Ren turned around and quickly walked over to the book shelf.

The librarian watched Ren walk away, feeling both relieved and slightly guilty.

“I didn’t say anything that bad to him, did I?” She thought. After a few minutes, a book was placed in front of her, ‘Going the Distance, by Kupow.’ She looked up and saw it was Ren.

“I’d like to take this book, please.” He said, looking off to the side.

“You’re a boxing fan? The librarian asked, Ren turned to her and shook his head.

“Not really, but the blurb on the back caught my attention. A teenage boxer that gets wrongfully accused of a crime, he ends up in Tokyo trying to get his life back on track.” Ren said with a shrug, “Sounds like me and this guy have a lot of things in common.”

“Oh? And what would that be?” The librarian asked as she started checking out his book.

“One: We both got convicted for a completely bullshit reason; two: We both had to leave home and somehow ended up in Tokyo, of all places. I could think of a few more, but I don’t wanna keep you too long.” Ren replied, feeling slightly better that the girl wasn’t completely afraid of him anymore and was actually trying to make conversation.

“So you’re not from Tokyo? Have you been enjoying it here at least?”

“Tokyo? Yes. School? Not so much.” Ren chuckled.

“…”

“Something wrong?”

“No, it’s just… I’ve heard a lot of the rumors already, but you don’t seem that bad.” The girl said meekly as she handed the book to Ren. He just scratch the back of his neck.

“Thanks.” Was all Ren said before he left.

“What’s your name?” The librarian asked before Ren could open the door.

“Uh, it’s Ren. Ren Amamiya.” He replied, the girl gave him a bright smile.

“Yukiko Koshigaya. Thank you for coming today, Amamiya-kun, please come again.” She said with a bow. Ren smiled and waved at her before he left.

Ren on his way to class when the bell rang, indicating the start for the day. He slid down the railing on the stairs and made his way to class. He spotted Ann as he walked in and took his seat behind her.

“Morning Goldilocks.” Ren said in a cheerful tone.

“Morning Ren,” Ann replied, flashing him a big bright smile.

“So, you ready for today?”

“Hm-hmm, the sooner we put a stop to Kamoshida, the better!”

“Agreed. So when does it start?”

“After homeroom.”

“Cool.”

“Hey, uh… Ren?” Morgana piped up from inside the bag, Ren looked down to answer the cat.

“Yeah?”

“Why do you have these in your blazer?” Morgana said, pulling out Ren’s pack of cigarettes.

“D-Dumbass! Put them back!” Ren whispered as he hurriedly shoved Morgana’s head and his cigarettes back into the bag.

“Hmm, something wrong?” Ann asked.

“N-No! Everything’s fine!” Ren blurted out.

“Uh… Okay?” Ann said as she turned around, Ren let out a sigh. Ms. Kawakami entered the classroom and began checking attendance as well as explaining the criteria for the day.

“Okay, quiet down everyone,” Kawakami said, “As you all know, today is the volleyball rally. We’ll all be heading to the gymnasium after homeroom, please try to behave once you’re there.” She continued, glancing at Ren as she did so.

Everyone exited the classroom and made their way to the gymnasium, students were huddling up with their friends while they looked for a spot to sit, Ren and Ann took a spot by the wall and Ryuji joined them soon after he arrived.

“Yo, so when do we do this?” Ryuji asked.

“We just got in, we should stick around for a bit.” Ann replied.

“Agreed. We’re gonna be in this gymnasium for most of the day, but if we sneak out around lunch time, I’m sure nobody will notice.” Ren added on, to which the others nodded in agreement. Soon the rally began and Ren got to see Kamoshida in action. He was pretty good at volleyball, Ren would’ve almost been impressed if he wasn’t a massive creep. He watched on as Kamoshida sent spike after spike into the opposition court, the players never looking like they stood a chance. Amongst the boys that were playing, Ren spotted the shy boy he bumped into the other day, Mishima. The boy looked out of it, he had bandages around his arm and a few noticeable bruises, Ren could only wince as he saw the boy try in vain to return the volleyball. As the match continued, Ren noticed that Kamoshida was glaring at him, he the gave Ren a twisted grin as he jumped to spike the oncoming ball. He leapt into the air and with one powerful spike, sent the ball straight into Mishima’s face, sending him flying as he collapsed to the ground, the back of his head thudding against the wooden flooring. The whole school went silent, Ann and many of the other girls watching covered their mouths with their hands. Ren looked at Kamoshida and noticed the smirk on his face.

“The bastard did that on purpose!” Ren growled under his breath. In a flash, Ren got up from his spot against the wall and rushed over to Mishima to inspect his injuries, he rested him on his lap and began inspecting him. Mishima’s nose wasn’t bleeding so that was good news, he also looked to be fairly conscious, but he was fading.

“Mishima, look at me,” Ren said calmly as he held up three fingers near his face, “How many fingers am I holding up?” Ren was careful to raise his voice too much. From his many years skating, he’s had a lot of experience dealing with head injuries like this. He waited for Mishima to respond, after about a minute he was able to mutter an answer.

“Six?” He mumbled weakly. Ren let out a heavy sigh, he then noticed he was surrounded by dozens of students and a few teachers. Ren put the thoughts of the surrounding people to the back of his mind, giving Mishima his full attention.

“Mishima, what is your given name?” Ren asked. He looked Mishima in the eyes, waiting for an answer. He said nothing. Ren held up a finger in front of him and began moving it back and forth slowly.

“Try and keep your attention on my finger, okay?” Ren said, focusing on his dilated pupils. As Ren moved his finger, Mishima kept looking straight, not focusing on anything. Ren let out a sigh.

“He’s got a concussion. He should be taken to the nurse.” Ren said as he eyed Ms. Kawakami, who was standing amongst the crowd.

“A-Are you sure? How do you know he’s got a concussion?” She asked.

“I’ve dealt with my fair share of skating accidents. Mishima is showing signs of a concussion; he’ll be fine, he just needs to stay rested.” Ren replied, picking Mishima up gently. Ren was prepared to carry Mishima to the nurse’s room himself, but Kamoshida suddenly spoke up.

“I think Amamiya-san over here had done more than enough,” He said as he pointed to two boys among the crowd, “You two, please carry Mishima to the nurse.” He continued, he then turned his attention back on Ren.

“What’s with that look?” Ren questioned Kamoshida as he handed Mishima off to the two boys.

“I was just thinking… Since Mishima is unable to play, how about you take over for him?” He replied.

“Why? So I can get spiked in the face too?” Ren responded with hostility.

“That was I complete accident, I assure you. Come on, you’re new to the school, so this would be a good experience for you.” Kamoshida said with a fake smile, he placed a hand on Ren’s shoulder, subtly pulling him from the crowd and onto the court. Ren looked off to the side as he was being involuntarily dragged off, seeing both Ann and Ryuji giving him a worried look, Ren flashed them a thumbs up hoping to alleviate their nerves. Mishima was taken away and the crowd had dispersed, and Ren was now taking part in a game of volleyball he wanted no part of. Ren looked around the gymnasium, seeing that everyone’s eyes were now on him.

“Wow, the transfer’s gonna play!”

“Let’s hope Kamoshida blasts him like that other guy.”

“Kamoshida’s totally gonna put him in his place.”

Ren took a deep breath, blocking out the voices of all the students in the hall, he eyed his teammates, all of them battered and bruised. His teammates were getting into their positions, placing Ren on the right side of the back row. Ren could see Kamoshida with a smug grin plastered all over his face as he was about serve. He took a running start, tossing the ball into the air as he leaped forward and blasted the ball into Ren’s court. Ren just managed to dodge Kamoshida’s killer serve as the ball slammed down onto the court, earning the coach a point.

“What the FUCK! You trying to kill me!?” Ren yelled, not caring if the whole school was able to hear him.

“Hey, watch your language!” Barked one of the teacher on the sidelines.

“Tch…”Was all Ren mumbled in return. The game resumed as one of Ren’s new teammates tossed the ball back over to Kamoshida as he was preparing to serve yet again. Once again Kamoshida served, but the ball hit the top of the net this time causing the ball nearly fall into Ren’s court, but within a split second Akio Musuime, a 2nd year and the teams libero, slid his hand underneath the ball sending it flying back into the air and coming down above Ren who faced his palms up to toss the ball over to any other member of the team who was forced to toss the ball over to the teachers side. One of the male teachers tossed the ball up for Kamoshida who leaped into the air to spike it. As this took place the students kept on cheering for the players, but all these cheers fell silent as Kamoshida’s spike landed directly in the center of Ren’s face. The serve was too fast for Ren to even react to and it knocked him backwards, landing on his ass.

“REEEN!” Both Ann and Ryuji screamed in unison. Ren felt around his face and noticed his glasses weren’t on anymore, he scanned the ground and found them a few feet away from him. Ren picked them up and noticed a lens was cracked, Ren bit his lip as he put his glasses back on and sent his most intense death stare Kamoshida’s way. Ren cracked his knuckles and moved back into position preparing himself for another one of Kamoshida’s serves. The mop haired coach leaped into the air send the ball directly into Ren’s stomach, causing the teen to fall onto his knees as he clutched his stomach. The perverted coach smiled as two of the volleyball team members made their way over to Ren’s side, helping him get back up. Ren was hurting, but he quickly got up to his feet and smirked at Kamoshida, who seemed to find Ren’s grin quite infuriating.

“Good, the least I can do is take out all the fun in this for you.” Ren thought to himself. He looked off to his side again and noticed Ann was pleading for him to stop, Ren just took a deep breath and went back to his position.

“We need to break his serve streak or he might just kill the transfer kid.” Said Taro Tanaka, the teams’ setter as he stared back at Ren, Akio and Hiroshi Hiroyuki, the teams Ace. The two boys on Ren’s left gave their setter a nod and Akio leaned over to Ren to speak to him.

“If coach Kamoshida tries to serve to you again then just move out of the way and let me receive it.” To which Ren nodded.

“If I want him to serve my way, I should try pissing him off more.” Ren thought to himself as he smiled at Kamoshida before looking over Ann and giving her a cheeky grin and a wink. He could see the rage starting to show itself on Kamoshida’s face after seeing Ren smile at his “princess” as he was about to serve. Kamoshida tossed the ball into the air as he ran and leaped after it sending it straight to Ren’s position like missile. Ren and Akio managed to swap places just in time for the libero to receive the ball and send it flying into the air towards the setter who tossed the ball over to the far left side of the net where Hiroshi’s palm met the ball as he slammed it towards the court in front of him, but two teachers managed to jump into place, blocking the spike and sending the ball back into the students court. Ren along with two other players leaped for the ball but each came up just too short to stop the ball from touching down in their court.

“You’re not ending my serves that easily boys.” Kamoshida said with a smile on his face as he posed for the students in the stands, flexing his muscles. “Come on now team! I trained you boys better than this!” he beamed.

“Tch, what an asshole.” Ann commented, to which Ryuji nodded.

“Yeah. Can’t believe this bastard.” Ryuji added on as the two blonds watched Ren play on the court as they each hoped he would stop this and just join them on the sidelines instead of having this mental and physical war with Kamoshida.

The volleyball match continued and the teachers team had scored nine more points. Ren’s team was getting destroyed, but winning wasn’t on Ren’s mind, every time Kamoshida struck him he’d simply force himself back up and smiled back at him, and every time he did it, Kamoshida’s rage grew, as if Ren’s defiance was doing more damage to Kamoshida’s ego than actually losing, and Ren was going to milk it as much as he possibly could.

“C’mon coach, you’re gonna have to do a lot more than that to get me to back down.” Ren muttered, doing his best not to sound too hurt, which only seemed to enrage Kamoshida more. Ren sucked in a deep breath, then released it slowly.

“I need to get him off his game so that he fucks up.” Ren thought to himself. An idea struck as he glanced over to Ann and Ryuji. Ren mouthed and gestured to them to cheer for him. Which the two blondes happily commenced with. They cheered as loudly as the two of them could just as Kamoshida served. His serve zoomed past Ren’s face and landing just outside the line that showed the end of the court.

The entire team breathed a sigh of relief as they all just came to terms with the fact that they’d get to serve now and Ren had a massive smile plastered on his face.

“This is where we get to score a few points team. Get into game mode now.” Taro yelled at his team as he was getting ready to serve into the teacher’s court. His serve was not as forceful as Kamoshida’s serve but it made its way over the net where a teacher connected with it, accidentally sending the ball back to the students’ side. The boys, along with Ren, sprinted into their positions as Hiroshi and Sora Takahiro, a 1st year wing spiker, ran simultaneously to the net while Akio received the ball and sent it to Taro who tossed it over to Hiroshi who before he even knew it he had three teachers blocking him, Kamoshida included.

Hiroshi slammed the ball as hard as he could into the block which sent it back to where Ren was standing and this time he managed to properly receive the ball and send it to Taro, who then signaled for Ren to try and spike the ball, since he was playing the role of a wing spiker. Ren ran up to the net and leaped as he followed the ball with his eyes until it was right in front of him, but the ball wasn’t the only thing in front of him, as Kamoshida held his hands up to block him off. The student and teacher were face to face as Ren slammed the ball but Kamoshida’s’ block forced it back into the students’ court, but Akio had just barely saved the ball from touching the ground behind Ren. However, Akio’s save sent the ball into the teachers’ court.

“You need to learn to take it easy.” Kamoshida said, flashing Ren a cocky little grin as the ball crossed over above them.

The teachers set it up for the coach yet again and he was more than ready to blast the ball at Ren who by pure luck managed to receive the powerful spike. His arms buckled from the force, but he had no time to worry about that as the team had to get into place to spike into the teachers court. Out of a pure yearning to score a point against the teachers; Ren, Sora and Hiroshi each backed up and began to sprint towards the net. The teachers were all confused to exactly which one of the boys would be getting the toss, but without bothering to think, Kamoshida ran up toward Ren again. Taro tossed the ball down the side of the net for Ren to spike and as he and the perverted king were yet again face to face, Ren recalled the words Kamoshida had just told him and decided to take his advice. Instead of slamming the ball, he gave it a light tap forwards causing the ball to drop straight down behind Kamoshida who had an absolute blank look on its face, realizing Ren just performed a feint on him, an Olympic level athlete.

The gymnasium was shocked silent for a moment, that was until Ann and Ryuji let out a loud cheer for Ren, which was soon followed by a few other students, including Shiho, Sato-kun and even Koshigaya-chan. Soon the whole school was going wild.

“Holy crap! Did you see how high he jumped!?”

“That was insane!”

“He just scored against Kamoshida!”

“And he did it with all those bruises too!”

Ren ignored all the praise he was receiving and instead directed all his focus on Kamoshida. The two made eye contact and Ren flashed him a toothy grin, Ren could almost see the steam coming out of his ears, he was so mad. The bell rang, indicating the start of lunch, and with one final moment to rile up the teacher, he flipped Kamoshida off as he ran out through the gymnasium door, quickly followed by both Ann and Ryuji. The trio ran off to someplace quiet where they could relax for a moment before they started asking around for information. They sat by the vending machines in the courtyard, and Ryuji handed Ren a soda, which he graciously accepted.

“Dude, that was so sick!” Ryuji said as he slung his arm over Ren’s shoulder.

“That was very reckless of you, Ren…” Ann spoke, giving Ren a slight pout, then let out a sigh, “It was kind of cool though.” She added, hiding her smirk behind a pigtail.

“Sorry if I worried you guys, I know it was dumb, but pissing off Kamoshida is just too fun.” Ren said, grinning from ear to ear as he opened the can of soda.

“Since we couldn’t sneak out during the rally, now’s probably the best time to question the volleyball team for info. You guys ready?” Ren asked, getting an affirming nod from both blondes, the trio then entered the school building to begin their search, Ryuji split from the group to cover more ground.

“So, who’s first on the list?” Ann asked, looking up at Ren. He quickly pulled a crumpled sheet of paper out of his pocket and read the name at the top of the list.

“First on the list is Eiji Hasegawa, he’s from our class.” He replied, quickly stuffing the page back into his pocket. The two teens jogged up to their class, hoping to find Hasegawa, who fortunately for them, was sitting in his seat inside the classroom. Ren approached the boy, Ann stayed at the door to make sure no teachers came by.

“Hasegawa-kun?” Ren asked as he lightly tapped his shoulder.

“What…?” The boy said as he turned around, he suddenly went pale as he made eye contact with Ren.

“W-What do you want?” Hasegawa muttered.

“Has Kamoshida been abusing you and your teammates?” Ren asked, deciding to not beat around the bush, to which Hasegawa started to look around anxiously.

“What!? Wh-What are you saying? Of course not.” He nervously replied.

“Oh? Then what about all those bruises and bandages?” Ren pressed on.

“O-Our training is just really intense, alright!”

“Look dude, I’m trying to help you. I’m not gonna snitch on you, so just tell me.”

“I don’t have to tell you anything!” Hasegawa yelled, gaining the attention of a few classmates.

“Are you afraid?” Ren asked, leaning in closer to the boy.

“I-I’m n-not! Y-You’re talking complete nonsense!” The boy flustered in response, slowly backing away from Ren.

“Ren!” Ann yelled from across the room, grabbing Ren’s attention. “Teacher on the way.” She gestured with her hand for Ren to follow. Ren looked back at Hasegawa, he let out a sigh, knowing he wasn’t going to get any useful information. Ren quickly exited the classroom, catching up with Ann and walking by her side.

“Anything?” She asked.

“Nope.” Ren replied “You think I might be too aggressive?”

“Maybe a little.” Ann replied, “Anyway, who else do we have?”

“Uhm…” Ren mumbled as he glanced at the page again, “We’ve got two third years, Natsuo Sakai and Hiroyuki Nomura.”

“Let’s head downstairs then, they should be somewhere there.” Ann replied as the two walked downstairs to the third year classes. After a few minutes of searching, they were able to find the two boys they were looking for, standing in front of class 3-C.

“Hey, are you Sakai-kun and Nomura-kun?” Ren asked as he approached. The two third years looked surprised to see an underclassmen suddenly approach them.

“Uh, yeah. That’s us.” Sakai replied.

“Hmm… Where’d you get all those bruises? You guys being abused by someone?” Ren questioned the boys. The two boys looked at each other nervously before turning back to Ren.

“…It’s from practice.” Nomura muttered.

“Hey, I know this guy. He’s the transfer that’s been hanging out with Sakamoto…” Sakai chimed in, “I see what’s happening here; you’re trying to snoop on Kamoshida sensei, right?” He added on, Ren sighed, already knowing how this was going to pan out.

“Look, our volleyball team performs at a national level. Of course our practices are gonna be tough. Kamoshida sensei’s just dedicated to training us. Don’t believe everything Sakamoto says.” Sakai continued.

“You guys know this is corporal punishment, right? What he’s doing is illegal.” Ren said, giving them an irritated glare.

“D-Don’t talk like you know!” Sakai exclaimed.

“Hey, we should stop talk to him. What if he loses it and starts attacking us?” Nomura interjected, Sakai nodded and the two boys walked off, yet again, leaving Ren with nothing. Ann walked up to Ren’s side and gave him a reassuring smile.

“Hey, don’t look so down. I’m sure we’ll find something soon.” She said, before Ren could respond he felt a vibration in his pocket. He pulled out his phone and noticed it was a text from Ryuji.

**Ryuji:** Yo, how’s things goin?

 **Ren:** Nowhere slowly

 **Ryuji:** Same on ur end then, huh?

 **Ryuji:** Damn, everyone’s too freaked out about Kamoshida. I do got a lead tho; a first year, he’s new. Hopefully he ain’t wrapped up in Kamoshida’s web of BS yet.

 **Ren:** Name?

 **Ryuji:** Naoto Sugimoto, class 1-B

 **Ren:** Thanks. I’ll check him out

 **Ryuji:** LOL ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 **Ren:** NOT LIKE THAT! (>ლ)

Ren sighed, but gave a playful smirk as he pocketed his phone.

“Got a message from Ryuji, says there’s a first year that might help us.” He said to Ann.

“Then what are we standing around for? Let’s go!” Ann jovially exclaimed, leading Ren towards the stairs. As Ren was walking, he suddenly bumped into someone carrying a stack of papers.

“Shit, sorry. My bad.” Ren said as he quickly bent down to pick up the papers.

“Oh, Shiho?” Ann said, quickly bending down to help pick up the papers.

“Oh, hey guys, thanks for helping.” Shiho muttered.

“Oh no, it’s no biggie. I was the one to bump into you after all.” Ren replied.

“Oh by the way, Ren… That play you made during the game was really cool. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

“You wanna add ‘athlete’ to the list of things I am?” Ren joked, earning a giggle from both girls. They quickly picked up all the pages and Shiho went on her way. Ren and Ann hastily walked up the stairs to the third floor in their search for Sugimoto. It didn’t take them long though, they spotted him leaning against the lockers. Ren quietly pulled Ann off to the side.

“Hey Ann, I think maybe you should do this one.”

“Why me?”

“Because you’re cute, so he might be more inclined to talk to you.”

“A-Are you sure?” Ann stuttered, looking down to hide her blush from Ren’s sudden compliment.

“You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.” Ren replied, flashing Ann a playful smile. Ann took a nervous glance at Sugimoto before facing Ren and nodding.

“Alright, I’ll do it.” She said, giving Ren a determined look.

“Excuse me, you’re Sugimoto-kun, right?” Ann asked, giving the boy a sympathetic smile.

“Uh… Y-Yeah… That’s me.” He hastily responded, struggling to keep a straight face at the gorgeous blonde girl talking to him.

“Would it be okay if I asked you a few questions?”

“S-Sure, ask away.”

“Alright, so I was wondering… Are you on the volleyball team by any chance?”

“Yeah, I’m on the volleyball team. Why?”

“I’m just a bit concerned; you see, I’ve got a friend on the team too, and she’s got all these bruises. I’ve tried asking her about them, but she never talks. I was wondering if maybe you knew anything?” Ann asked, giving her best puppy dog pout. Sugimoto tried to look away, but ended up succumbing to Ann’s charm. He let out a sigh before he answered.

“Okay look, you didn’t hear this from me, okay. Kamoshida does this thing he calls ‘special coaching’. I’ve never experienced it yet, but from what I know about it, he calls a student to his room and when they leave, they’re covered in bruises. That’s all I know, is that enough?”

“Yes, thank you so much Sugimoto-kun. I really appreciate it.” Ann said, flashing the boy a bright smile before she walked off. From where Ren was standing, he noticed the heavy blush on the boys cheeks. Ann walked up to Ren and the two of them made their way downstairs.

“Good job, Goldilocks.” Ren said, giving Ann a thumbs up.

“Thanks, Sugimoto was actually really helpful. I found out about this ‘special coaching’ that Kamoshida does. We should get Ryuji up to speed.”

“Lunch is almost over though. School finishes early today, so why don’t we all meet on the roof later?”

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s head back to the gymnasium for now.”

Ann and Ren walked back to the gymnasium and took their spot against the wall. They passed the time with idle conversation while they waited. Ryuji soon joined them before lunch break ended. They spent the next few minutes discussing all they had found until the intercom signaled the end of the day. The trio decided to meet up on the roof before they left to retrieve their bags in their classroom. On the way, Ren spotted Mishima walking from their classroom, still fresh from a concussion. Ren walked up to him to check if he was okay.

“Hey, Mishima, you alright?”

“Uh, yeah… I’m feeling a bit better now.”

“That’s good to hear, you heading home now?”

“Uh, yeah. I am.”

“Alright. Make sure you lay down in a dimly lit room and try to rest. That’s the best way to treat a concussion.”

“Y-Yeah… I’ll do that…” Mishima timidly replied, suddenly, they were approached by the towering mop headed volleyball coach, Kamoshida. Ren glowered at the man as he approached.

“Mishima, where do you think you’re going? We’ve still got practice today.” Kamoshida said, Mishima was visibly shaken.

“I-I’m not feeling well today…” He mumbled. Kamoshida put his hands on his hips before he replied.

“What? Maybe you’re better off quitting the team then. You’re never going to improve that crappy form unless you show up to practice.” Kamoshida replied. Ren stepped in front of Mishima, walling Kamoshida off from the poor boy.

“Hey, mop head, didn’t you hear? He’s not feeling well! He needs to rest!” Ren barked, Kamoshida scowled at the curly haired teen.

“Well, Mishima? Are you coming to practice or not?” He said, ignoring Ren’s comment.

“…I’ll go.” Mishima meekly replied. Kamoshida smirked, then he turned his focus back to Ren.

“As for you, any more trouble and you’ll be gone from this school. Do you understand?”

 _“No, I never learned how to speak ‘asshole teacher’.”_ Ren replied in English, getting a confused look from Kamoshida, which Ren found quite amusing. Ren walked past Kamoshida and into his classroom, deciding that meeting with his friends would be more beneficial than shit talking Kamoshida.

Ren grabbed his board and the cat-bag and quickly ran up the stairs to the roof. When he arrived he was greeted by both of his blonde friends, sitting and chatting by the desks. Ren joined them and the trio began discussing a possible plan.

“So, we know that he’s abusing people, and he’s doin’ it with that ‘special training’, yeah?” Ryuji asked.

“Yeah. So the abuse is confirmed to be happening, and we know how he’s doing it, we just need to get some evidence of it happening and we’ll have him.” Ren replied.

“Yeah, but how are we going to do that though?” Ann questioned, “It’s not like we can get anyone to record it happening.”

“True. But we’ve got to try. Let’s brainstorm some ideas, I’m sure we’ll think of something.” Ren said as he took out a pen and pad from his bag.

While Ren and the gang were scheming, Kamoshida was sitting in his office while the volleyball members were packing up. He was dwelling on the volleyball match from earlier in the day and how Ren had embarrassed him in front of the school. He was pissed, and he needed to take it out on something, or someone. He pulled out his phone and tried calling Ann’s number, but she had him blocked, so he did the next best thing, Mishima. He rang the number and waited.

“Hello” Mishima weakly answered the phone.

“Mishima, are you still in the gymnasium?”

“Uh, yes…”

“Who else?”

“A few second years, some first years too…”

“Any girls left?”

“Uh… a few… why?”

“Which ones?”

“Which ones? Uh… I think I saw Suzui-chan was still here.”

“Good. Tell her to meet me in my office. I’ve got some ‘special training’ for her.” He said with a chuckle, hanging up before Mishima could respond.

Mishima felt a pit forming in his stomach. He knew what ‘special training’ entailed, he knew firsthand how terrible it was. He sighed and made his way to the gymnasium exit, thinking he could just tell Kamoshida that he was wrong and that Shiho had already left. He hoped he wouldn’t see her, he prayed that he wouldn’t have to tell her. As he approached the school’s entrance, he saw her. Shiho Suzui, the second year volleyball ace, standing against the wall, browsing her phone. Mishima saw the saddened expression on her face, and the pit seemed to double in size. He hesitated at first, thinking he could maybe feign ignorance and claim he didn’t see her. He tried, but he found his body acting on its own, approaching Shiho against his will. He was screaming internally.

“Am I really going to do this? Am I really going to send this girl to that man? I-I can’t! I… I’m a coward…” Mishima agonizingly admonished himself. He was now right in front of her, and she was looking right at him.

“I can still stop this… I don’t have to tell her…” He continued to mentally chide himself.

“Something wrong, Mishima-kun?” Shiho asked in her sweet, innocent voice.

“S-Suzui-chan…”

“Yes?” Shiho asked, raising an eyebrow. Mishima sucked in some air through his teeth before he spoke.

“Kamoshida… he… he wants you to go to his office.” Mishima managed to say before he ran off, tears were beginning to form under his eyes.

Shiho tried to reach for Mishima, but he ran away too quickly. She stood motionless, looking at the direction Mishima ran off. Shiho stood still for a minute or two, letting out a sigh as she rubbed the tears from her eyes she didn’t even notice were there. She made her way towards the practice building, fearing for her life.

Back on the roof, the teens and the cat were still discussing possible ways to deal with Kamoshida.

“Look, I’m just saying, dealing with Kamoshida’s shadow would be far simpler. Nobody would know it was you guys, and nobody would miss him if he died either!” Morgana exclaimed.

“Look Morgana, I agree, but like I said, we’re not gonna kill him.” Ren replied.

“It’s not like it’ll 100% kill him, he’s more likely to live if anything.”

“Yeah, he’ll be a living vegetable. He’s too good for that.”

“What do you mean?”

“We want to see him locked up and rotting in a jail cell.” Ren replied, scratching Morgana behind the ear.

“Hey, stop tha… **_prrrrrr prrrrrr_** ”

“Man, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing a talking cat.” Ryuji chimed in, to which Ann giggled. The gang weren’t making much progress in their plan to catch Kamoshida, but at least they were having some fun while they were doing it. Everything was going fine, until the group heard a bloodcurdling scream.

**“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhh!!!”**

The group all jumped to their feet, all on high alert.

“The fuck was that!?” Ren exclaimed, looking from the railing for the source of the scream.

“That was loud as hell! You think someone got hurt?” Ryuji asked, joining Ren by the railing. He turned to look at Ann, noticing all color fading from her skin.

“Ann, are you alright?”

“That scream… I… I think that was Shiho…”

“Shiho!?” Ryuji blurted out, “Are you sure?”

“I’ve watched horror movies with her before, and that scream sounded almost exactly like hers…” Ann said as she ran over to the boys at the railing. Ren was still looking over the school for the location, he then remembered what they learned earlier in the day about Kamoshida’s special training.

“Where’s Kamoshida’s office?” He asked, Ann and Ryuji gave Ren a confused look until it clicked in their heads why he asked, Ryuji started going as pale as Ann.

“It’s on the second floor of the practice building. At the end of the hall.” Ann said, Ren nodded as he darted through the door, Ann, Ryuji and Morgana all followed behind. The group dashed through the hallway and down the stairs towards Kamoshida’s office, the screams stopped but they could hear the sounds of muffled sobbing as they approached. Ren stopped in the middle of the hallway, raising an arm so the others would stop too.

“Dude, why’re we stopping? Shiho needs our help!” Ryuji yelled as he started cracking his knuckles. Ann gave Ren a glare.

“Yeah, we need to stop him before he hurts her!” She yelled.

“I know, but we need a plan. We can’t just go banging against his door. We need a way to lure him out, and fast.” Ren said, trying his best to keep himself and his friends calm. Morgana jumped onto Ren’s back and leaned over his shoulder.

“I think I’ve got a plan, we can use that!” Morgana exclaimed, pointing a paw towards a fire alarm on the wall.

“Perfect,” Ren said as he eyed the alarm, “Alright guys, here’s the plan: We pull the alarm and wait for Kamoshida to leave. He’ll likely go to the faculty lounge and leave his office for a while. Ryuji, I want you to keep watch while Ann and I try opening the door. We good with that?” Ren explained, Ann and Ryuji nodded. Ren pulled the alarm and the group hid by the staircase, Morgana popped his head out to make sure Kamoshida left, and just as they planned, he left, walking towards the faculty lounge. Ryuji quietly made his way to the passage, keeping an eye on Kamoshida as he walked, Ren and Ann darted to the door to the office, banging on it, trying to force it open.

“Fuck… this isn’t gonna work.” Ren muttered, looking to Ann and Morgana.

“We need to do something, Shiho’s in there!” Ann desperately cried, Morgana jumped up to Ren’s shoulder again.

“Lady Ann, do you have any bobby pins?” The cat asked, to which Ann nodded.

“Good, give one to Ren and he can pick it.”

“I don’t know how though.” Ren chimed in.

“It’s fine, I’ll guide you through it. Just hurry!” Morgana exclaimed. Ann handed the pin to Ren, and he carefully began picking the lock with Morgana guiding him through it from his shoulder. After a few minutes, the heard the satisfying click of the lock. Ren and Ann swiftly rushed into the room and were horrified with what they saw, Shiho with her sweater torn, revealing her bra and chest, tears streaming down her face, tape covering her mouth and a jump rope restricting her to Kamoshida’s chair. Ann and Ren both rushed to her and tried untying her.

“Oh my God! Shiho, are you alright?” Ann said as she gently took the tape off Shiho’s face.

“A-Ann…” Was all Shiho could mutter before she burst out crying. Ren was able to untie the rope and help Shiho out of the chair, the two girls hugged and Ann breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that her best friend was now safe, but it didn’t last long as Ryuji quickly darted into the room, bringing bad news.

“Shit! Guys, Kamoshida’s coming. We gotta to run, now!”

“We can’t go that way or he’ll see us though!” Morgana anxiously replied. Ren, thinking quickly, pulled out his phone and gestured for Ryuji to come closer.

“Dude, are you gonna…” Ryuji was cut short as he suddenly found himself no longer in Kamoshida’s office, but the Castle.

Kamoshida was walking back from the teacher’s office, and he was very annoyed.

“For fucks sake. Some dumb brat must’ve pulled an alarm as a prank. At least I know Suzui won’t get out…” He trailed off as he approached his office, seeing that his door was now opened. He ran into his office and was shocked to see Suzui was no longer there. In his rage, he threw his chair against the wall and began cursing like a madman.

Back inside the palace, Shiho was both frightened and intrigued at everything around her.

“W-Where the heck are we? And what happened to your clothes? And what’s this monster cat thing?” Shiho said, looking at all her surrounding, not sure what to focus on.

“I am **NOT** a cat! I’m a human that lost my form!” Morgana pouted. Ren sighed and placed a hand on Shiho’s shoulder, trying to calm her down.

“Shiho, please calm down. We’ll explain everything, but please calm down.” Ren said calmly, to which Shiho complied. Ren and Morgana began relaying to Shiho all the information they knew about the metaverse, from the app on Ren’s phone, their costumes, palaces, shadows and treasures. Needless to say, Shiho was quite taken aback by the whole ordeal.

“I-… I… Am very confused.” She said, Ryuji just gave a light chuckle.

“Don’t worry, it’s a lot to take in. I still don’t get it either.” He said, “But anyway, are you alright Shiho? That bastard didn’t hurt you or anything?”

“T-Thankfully not… but… If it weren’t for you guys…” Shiho stuttered, Ann quickly brought her into a hug to calm her down.

“Hey Ren-Ren, I don’t think we’ve come to this part of the palace yet. Don’t we usually enter at the start of the palace?”

“It’s probably because we entered from inside the school instead of the entrance. We should probably get going though, we don’t want to run into Shadow Kamoshida while Shiho’s here.” Ren replied, getting an affirmative nod from the group. Ren led the team through the palace, using his new ability, the third eye, he was paying careful attention to not engage with shadows for Shiho’s sake. The group soon found themselves back in familiar territory, the foyer.

“Alright, the exit should be…” Ren tried to say, but was interrupted by a group of shadows suddenly spawning around them in an ambush. Both Ryuji and Ann stood around Shiho, ready to protect her from the shadows while Ren and Morgana took offensive positions, forming the front line. Before the group could attack, their attention was suddenly brought to the man standing on top of the staircase, Kamoshida.

“Well look what we have here, the thieves that tried raiding my castle. I knew you would return, but this time, I’m prepared for you.” He said as he slowly descended the staircase. Shiho stared in a mixture of horror and disgust as the man that attempted to rape her slowly approached her and her friends.

“Not another step, asshole!” Ryuji yelled as he raised a fist, blue flames engulfed his hand, forming a shotgun as it dissipated, which he aimed directly at Kamoshida.

“You…!” Shiho mumbled as she furrowed her brow, Ryuji and Ann both glanced at her. “You bastard… You absolute Monster!” She continued, pushing pass both blondes as she walked closer to Kamoshida.

“Shiho, what are you doing? Come ba-…” Ann tried to say, but was cut off by Ren raising his hand.

“It’s okay, Ann. She’s got this.” Ren said, flashing her a knowing grin.

“What do you mean ‘She’s got this’?” Ann shouted, shocked that Ren was being so nonchalant about this.

“I’ve just got this feeling. I felt it when it happened to me, I felt it when it happened to Ryuji, and I felt it when it happened to you… She’s got this, Ann.” He said, give Ann a thumbs up.

“Wait, do you mean!?” Ryuji blurted out as he stared at Shiho, who was steadily approaching Kamoshida.

“You… YOU FUCKING SCUMBAG!!!” She bellowed. Kamoshida looked at Shiho with a malicious grin.

“Ah, Suzui, I wasn’t expecting to see you here with these thieves. If only you stayed in my office like a good little girl, now I’m going to have to execute you too.” He said with a chuckle. Shiho clenched her fists and grit her teeth at Kamoshida’s comment, tears streaming down her face, she just stood still, glaring a hole through his head.

“Shiho!” Ren called from behind her, “Aren’t you tired of taking his shit? Don’t you just want to let loose and take it out on this bastard? I can feel it and I know you do too. That voice deep in your heart calling out to you; reach out to it!” He continued. Shiho didn’t take her eyes off Kamoshida, but she listened to every word Ren said, letting a small grin form across her face.

“You’re right, Ren. I am tired. Tired of all this man’s shit! Kamoshida, when I first arrived at Shujin, I trusted you, idolized you. I thought you were an amazing coach that you would help me become a better volleyball player… But instead, you made me hate the sport I loved. Not only that, you’ve abused me and my teammates, you’ve harassed my friends and ruined so many lives. You’ve taken so much, not just from me, but so many other students, you made going to school absolute hell for so many people… That ends here, no matter what, even if I have to do it myself!” Shiho ranted. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain that brought her to her knees.

“Here it comes.” Ren thought to himself as he glanced back at Ann, Ryuji and Morgana, watching on as Shiho was about to let loose.

**_“Finally, you’ve certainly kept me waiting.”_** A loud voice echoed through Shiho’s skull, as she clutched her head to try and stop the pain.

**_“You’ve endured long enough, your time as this man’s toy ends here.”_** The voice continued, Shiho managed to will herself back on to her feet, her head still writhing in agony, but she stood strong.

“I… Said… I would… Stop him… Myself… No matter what!” Shiho muttered, using all her available strength to stay on her feet.

**_“Such tenacity… I like it. Very well, let us forge the contract.”_ **

****

**_“I am thou, thou art I…_ **

****

**_You have finally found the will to break these chains, created by that man…_ **

****

**_You can finally be free…_ **

****

**_You can finally overcome…_ **

****

**_You can finally… MAKE HIM PAY!”_ **

****

“Yes… I hear you… Come to me… Lend me your strength!” Shiho cried out. Kamoshida was trembling in fear while Ren and the others looked on, smiling from ear to ear.

**_“I hear you my child, all you need is call upon my name…”_** The voice continued.

A purple domino mask with silver trimmings around the sides suddenly appeared on Shiho’s face and she instinctively started pulling at it.

“Your name… Yes… I understand now… Judith!” Shiho yelled as ripped the mask off in one go, causing blood to spill all across the floor.

Shiho’s body was suddenly engulfed in blue flames, it startled her at first, but soon felt a wave of energy enter her body. The flames dissipated, revealing Shiho in a new set of clothes. She wore a white dress shirt with a black bowtie and corset with a dark purple blazer over it as well as white dress gloves over her hands. Her bottom half had short black pants that exposed most of her thigh, black fishnet stocking and black knee-high boots. The whole look was topped off with a black top hat with a purple ribbon around it. Shiho was grinning from ear to ear as she stared down Kamoshida; she took off her hat a stuck her hand in, pulling out a rapier, and aimed it at the man. Behind Shiho was a tall, beautiful woman with pale white skin and dark brown hair, she wore a frilly purple dress with white accents that covered her feet. In her right hand, she held up a sword and in the other, a decapitated head of a man with curly black hair. Kamoshida looked on in fear, he stepped back as one of his golden guards came to shield him from the newly awakened Persona user.

“Shit, not again!” Kamoshida cried as he darted back up the stairs. Shiho let out a soft chuckle as the man she feared was now running with his tail between his legs. She put her hat back on her head and pointed her blade at the guard.

“Judith… Let’s show this scumbag that we’re not just some man’s plaything.” Shiho said, flashing a confident grin at her Persona.

 ** _“With pleasure, my dear.”_** Her Persona replied, aiming her sword at the golden guard. The guard suddenly burst into a pile of black goo, slowly taking the form of what appeared to be a slime, but appeared to look much more vulgar and… penis shaped. Ren and the others ran up to join Shiho by her side, all of them pulling off their masks and summoning their Personas. Doyle, Carmen, Judith, Captain Kidd and Zorro were all lined up, hovering behind their users. The weaker guards all fled, leaving only the phallic shadow to face the group of teens and their cat.

“Alright team,” Ren said as he flipped his blade in the air, “Let’s show Kamoshida what happens when he tries to fuck with us!” Ren exclaimed, getting a loud roar from all his friends as they charged at the shadow.

The battle began, Ren and Ryuji darted to the sides of the shadow, dividing its attention between the two boys, while Ann, Shiho and Morgana summoned their Personas and pelted it with fire, wind and blessed attacks. Shiho and Morgana’s attack damaged the shadow, but Ann’s flames seemed to heal it.

“Crap, lady Ann, your fire’s healing it. You should stand back and focus on healing!” Morgana said, Ann nodded and retreated to the back, focusing on healing her teammates instead. Ren and Ryuji ordered their Personas to bash the shadow with physical attacks; Doyle and Captain Kidd charged at the shadow, Doyle slashing it with his axe-guitar while Captain Kidd bashed into it with his ship. The shadow writhed in pain as the two boys’ Persona whaled into him, desperately trying to fend them off by blasting fire at the two boys. Ren leapt to the side in an army roll, the flames barely missing him. Ryuji unfortunately wasn’t as lucky, taking a hit to the midsection.

“Crap, that’s hot!” Ryuji yelled, retreating slightly to make some distance between him and the shadow. Ann quickly ran up to Ryuji and summoned Carmen.

“Carmen, Dia!” She commanded; Carmen appeared behind her and waved a hand at Ryuji, showering him with a wave of healing green energy.

“Better?”

“Yeah, thanks!” Ryuji exclaimed thankfully, before jumping back into the fray. Ann watched from the back, smiling at her best friend, gracefully dodging the flames and summoning her Persona, bombarding the shadow with rays of holy light, sending it recoiling back.

“Nice work, team. Keep it up!” Ren said as he summoned Doyle; Ren jumped into the air and had Doyle swing the blunt side of his axe-guitar at him, sending Ren hurtling through the air like a baseball, brandishing his machete and slicing through the shadow. Ren tucked and rolled as he landed, getting back on his feet in an instant. He turned to face the shadow, clutching his groin as he winced at the damage he did to the shadow, feeling a slight bit of discomfort at the sight of a very obviously penis shaped shadow writhing in pain, feeling almost sympathetic towards it. He turned to look at his teammates and noticed Ryuji do the same, while Shiho very enthusiastically kept peppering the shadow with holy attacks. Shiho rushed the shadow with her rapier, weaving through the oncoming fireballs, thrusting the shadow with her sword several times before having Judith ravage the shadow with more blessed attacks. With one final assault, Ren and the rest of the team launched into an All-Out-Attack, hacking, slashing, bashing and whipping the shadow until it withered into a cloud of black smoke.

As the battle concluded and the dust settled, the group let out a relieved sigh. Ann immediately ran over to Shiho and drew her into a tight embrace.

“Oh my God, Shiho… You were amazing!” Ann excitedly squealed.

“Yeah, getting to unwind like this was really fun, I feel really exhausted though.” Shiho replied as she began leaning all her weight onto Ann.

“That’s normal after an awakening. Once we get out you should rest for a bit.” Ryuji said as he offered to help Ann carry her.

“Hey, Morgana…” Ren said, gaining the cat’s attention, “Your offer for stealing Kamoshida’s treasure still on the table?”

“Huh? Wait, are you guys actually going to do it?” Morgana asked, getting an affirming nod from Ren, Ann and Ryuji.

“I still don’t want to have to kill the guy, but after what he tried to do with Shiho…” Ren trailed off, deciding not to speak about it anymore than necessary.

“So this treasure thing you mentioned earlier, if you take it, he’ll confess everything?” Shiho asked.

“Basically.” Morgana replied.

“I see. I want to join you guys, would that be alright?” Shiho asked, receiving an immediate and unanimous “Yes!” from everyone. Shiho smiled as she let out a tired sigh, the fight really did wear her out, but she was happy. Happy to finally be able to take back her life, happy to be able to stop Kamoshida from possibly hurting more people, but also happy to have such a tight group of friends. The group made their way out through the window and exited the metaverse. Once back in the real world, Ren and Ryuji ran back into the building to grab everyone’s bags, while Ann, Shiho and Morgana decided it would be best if they hid in the alleyway by the entrance to avoid bumping into Kamoshida.

“So the real Kamoshida doesn’t know anything that happened inside there?” Shiho asked.

“Nope.” Morgana replied as he stretched his back.

“Heh, today sure was hectic. First; I see Ren score a point against Kamoshida in volleyball, I nearly get assaulted, I end up getting saved by my best friend, get taken to a weird shadow world, get super powers and I meet a talking cat. Most people would try to space that out between a few days at least.” Shiho joked, getting a chuckle out of Ann and Morgana, who surprisingly didn’t take any offence to being called a cat. Ren and Ryuji returned with everyone’s bags, including Shiho’s who kept hers in her locker.

“Thanks you guys. Guess we should head home now, yeah?” Shiho asked.

“Yeah, you two gonna be okay though? Need me and Ryuji to walk you two home?” Ren responded.

“Shiho and I will be fine, you two should go home and rest too. We can talk about this more in the morning.” Ann replied.

“Oh, I got an idea! Let’s make a group chat, that way we can all still keep in touch!” Ryuji chimed in.

“Sure that’s not an excuse to get a cute girl’s number, Ryuji?” Ren joked, a knowing smile formed on his face as he saw Ryuji get slightly flustered.

“N-No! I’m being completely genuine here!” Ryuji exclaimed, getting a slight giggle from Ann and Shiho. After a minute of exchanging details, the group chat was formed and the group split up, Ann and Shiho walked home together while Ren and Morgana did the same, leaving Ryuji standing on his own, smiling at his phone. He let out a relieved sigh.

“Okay, just need to be myself, don’t worry about flirting and don’t be weird… I can do that” He mumbled to himself as a big stupid grin formed on his face. He let out another deep breath before happily jogging to the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Shiho’s Persona: Judith - The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book, It tells of a Jewish widow who uses her beauty and charm to destroy an Assyrian general and save Israel from oppression. I Spent a few hours researching historical figures for a possible Persona for Shiho and I felt this was a good choice. Two others that I was considering were Susanna and Jezebel.  
> -Before you ask, yes, that is a GtD reference. If you haven’t read that story yet, please do, its one of my favorite fan-fics and was what inspired me to start writing my own.


	8. Fall Back Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Song is Fall Back Down by Rancid

14/04/2016

Tokyo, Japan

Higashi, Shibuya

It was an early Thursday morning in Shibuya, and Ann had just woken up. Normally, she’d dread going to school, but recently, things have been getting better, and it all started when she met that cute curly-haired boy. Ann got out of bed and proceeded with her usual morning routine; shower, hair, get dressed and eat. As she was finishing up her breakfast when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, quickly pulling it out and letting out a smile as she saw who the message was from.

**Ren:** Morning Goldilocks.

 **Ann:** Morning Ren, what’s up?

 **Ren:** Right now? The train’s ceiling ( ˙꒳˙ )

 **Ann:** Ugh…

 **Ann:** Really Ren? This early in the morning?

Ann let out an exasperated sigh, but ended up grinning despite herself. The way Ren could be so cool at times and a complete dork at others was one of the things Ann thought was really charming about him. Ann glanced back at her phone as Ren sent another message.

**Ren:** Hey, I can’t help it sometimes. My endless wit is both a blessing and a curse

 **Ann:** _:(´ཀ`」 ∠):_

 **Ann:** Sounds more like a curse than anything

 **Ren:** Don’t worry Ann, I understand if you’re jealous

 **Ren:** ╮(︶▽︶)╭

 **Ann:** ***BLOCKED*** ( -_- )

 **Ren:** Okay, I’ll stop (￣ω￣;)

 **Ren:** Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about Shiho

 **Ann:** What about her?

 **Ren:** Is she alright with going to school after everything that happened yesterday?

 **Ann:** I was actually a bit worried about that myself too, but she said she’d be fine. That said, I’m not gonna leave her side for the whole day

 **Ren:** Alright, Ryuji and I will be with you guys. We’ll make sure Kamoshida doesn’t try and pull anything

 **Ann:** Thanks, having you guys around definitely makes things easier

 **Ren:** No problemo, just call me Mr. Dependable

 **Ann:** You’re such a dork lol

 **Ren:** It’s part of my charm

 **Ann:** Keep telling yourself that

 **Ren:** Meanie (ಥ﹏ಥ)

 **Ann:** Anyway, there’s some other stuff I wanna talk to you about. Think we could meet up on the roof later?

 **Ren:** Sure, it’s a date

Ann blushed as she read Ren’s text, letting out a soft giggle as she put her phone back into her pocket.

“God, how he’s able to be that forward and not be embarrassed…” Ann said to herself, not realizing the lady behind her giggling to herself.

“You seem to be in a good mood this morning, Ann-dono.” The woman said, catching Ann off guard.

“Ah-Oh, good morning, Ando-san. You surprised me.” Ann greeted her caretaker. She was an older woman in her mid-forties, she had short black hair and her dark brown eyes stood out vibrantly on her kind face.

“Apologies, Ann-dono, but I heard you laughing and I just had to see what put you in such a happy mood.” She said as her mouth formed into a kind smile.

“I-Its nothing important, just got a text from a friend.” Ann replied as she hid her blush behind her pigtails, “Anyway, I need to get to school now. Goodbye, Ando-san.” Ann said as she hurried to the door, grabbing her bag before leaving the apartment.

Elsewhere, Ren Amamiya was riding on the train from Shibuya to Aoyama-Itchome, smiling down at his phone. He put it away and turned to his blonde-haired friend.

“Ann said Shiho’s fine, and she will be at school.” Ren said, Ryuji let out a sigh.

“Alright, I guess that’s good news. Still kinda worried for her though.” Ryuji replied.

“She’s a tough girl, Ryuji. I’m sure she’ll be alright.”

“Yeah, she is. I just hope Kamoshida doesn’t try to pull somethin’”

“He better not, or else I’m gonna have to kick his ass in the palace and at school.” Ren joked, Ryuji gave a light snicker in response.

“Hey, Ren-Ren, is Morgana with you?” Ryuji asked. Before Ren could answer, the cat stuck his head out of the bag

“Of course I am, why do you ask?” Morgana said.

“I wanted to talk to you about the palace, like, should we get some extra equipment and stuff?”

“That’s not a bad idea Ryuji. What did you have in mind?” Ren inquired.

“There’s this model gun shop I used to work at part-time called ‘Untouchable’. I was wonderin’ if those guns would work for us in the palace.”

“But they’re model guns though?”

“So are the ones we use.”

“Wha- are you serious?”

“Yeah, I noticed when my shotgun formed, it looked totally real in there, but it felt off. After all the time I spent workin’ with Iwai, I learnt how to tell between a real and a fake?”

“You’ve used a real gun?”

“No, but I do know a thing or two about ‘em.”

“Huh, you sound like you’re from Texas.”

“Texas?”

“It’s a state in America. They really love their second amendment down there.” Ren said as he turned his focus on Morgana. “But anyway, would fake guns even work in the palace, Morgana?”

“I don’t see why not. It’s a cognitive world, so if the gun looks real enough, it should fool the palace ruler.” Morgana replied.

“Alright, let’s check that place out then. We can probably get some first aid kits from that doctor in Yongen too.” Ren said, earning a wide grin from Ryuji.

“You sure that’s not just an excuse to see that hot goth doctor lady?” He said with a chuckle.

“D-Dude, its not like that!” Ren flusterdly replied.

“Suuuuuure it isn’t.” Ryuji continued to chuckle, much to Ren’s chagrin.

The train came to a stop and the teens made their way to school, continuing their conversation as they walked. The boys arrived at the entrance and were both met by Shiho and Ann waiting at the gate.

“Hey you two.” Shiho said as she waved at the boys.

“Morning Shiho. You doin’ okay?” Ryuji asked.

“I’m alright. Yesterday was pretty tough… but I’ll manage.” Shiho replied.

“Well don’t hesitate to ask us for help, we’re all here for you if you need us.” Ryuji said as he gave Shiho a thumbs up. Shiho blushed slightly, and while Ryuji didn’t notice it, Ren and Ann definitely did. Ren and Ann made eye contact, smirked and gave a slight affirming nod, indicating they were both knew there was something more to that.

“U-Uh, thanks Ryuji. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” She responded.

The group entered the building and made their way to the respective classes. Ren and Ann got to their classroom and took their seats.

“Hey Ann, you wanted to talk about something, right?” Ren asked.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you on the roof during lunch.”

“Why the roof though, can’t you just tell me now?”

“No, I don’t want other people to hear.”

“Huh, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were going to confess to me.” Ren said as his lips curled into a smug grin.

“I-It’s not that. Jeez, how are you able to say that with a straight face?”

“Well I’m actually smiling, so its technically not a ‘straight face’. A smug face sounds more fitting.”

“God, you’d be so annoying if you weren’t so cute.” Ann said, suddenly realizing what she said, turned red as a tomato. She was expecting a comment from Ren, but nothing came from his mouth. She took a glance at his face and noticed Ren too, was red in the face. The two sat in awkward silence for a few moments until Ren broke the silence.

“Cute, huh.” He said, scratching his neck, causing Ann to giggle.

“You know, for a guy that has no problem with flirting, you sure do lose your cool when you’re on the receiving end.”

“Only when a cute girl is the one saying it.” Ren uttered, causing Ann to go even redder. Ren let out a soft chuckle.

“I guess we both suck at it, huh?” He said.

“O-Only when a cute boy is the one saying it.” Ann mumbled out, sending Ren into a small giggling fit, which Ann soon followed.

Ms. Kawakami walked into the classroom and the conversation started to die down.

“Morning class, please settle down while I start taking attendance.” She said as she made her way to the front of the classroom. Everything was going as usual, until Kawakami noted that someone was missing.

“That’s odd, Mishima’s not in class… Has anyone seen him today?” Kawakami asked the class, one student raised his hand to answer.

“I saw him walking around the third floor this morning. I think he was going to the roof.”

“What would Mishima be doing on the roof though?” Kawakami questioned, “Hmm… Amamiya-kun, you’re friends with Mishima-kun, right? Can you please check up on him.” She continued. Ren looked confused as to why he was chosen, he wasn’t really friends with Mishima, he was likely chosen because he was the one to rush to Mishima after his injury during the volleyball rally. Ren got up from his seat and made his way to the door.

“Yeah, I guess I’ll go check on him.” Ren said as he left. As Ren made his way upstairs, he noticed the hallways suddenly getting louder, and that students were leaving their classrooms.

“Huh, that’s weird. Is there something going on?” Ren thought as students began crowding the windows. He then heard students screaming and shouting.

“The hell is he doing!?”

“He climbed the railing!”

“Oh my God, is he gonna jump!?”

Ren’s head snapped around as he heard that last comment, darting towards the window to get a good look at what was going on, and what he saw formed a pit in his gut. Mishima was standing on the edge of the roof, looking down at the ground.

“Fuck…” Was all Ren was able to let escape his mouth. Ren turned around and sprinted up the stairs as fast as he possibly could. Ren bashed through the door with his shoulder, knocking it slightly off its hinges, Ren scanned the area and saw Mishima standing right on the edge.

“MISHIMA, STOP!” Ren yelled, gaining his classmate’s attention.

“A-Amamiya? What are you doing here?” Mishima asked in response.

“That should be my line. Please, don’t take another step.” Ren said, calming himself down so he hopefully wouldn’t frighten Mishima.

“Leave me alone! I deserve this!” Mishima said as he started leaning forward.

“Woah, slow down there. Mishima, I don’t know what’s going on, but can’t we just talk it out?” Ren desperately pleaded.

“There’s nothing to talk about!”

“There clearly is. Mishima, tell me what’s wrong.” Ren said, his voice calm and assertive. There was a long pause as the two boys stood on the roof, the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The silence was broken as Mishima started sniffling loudly, his eyes beginning to well with tears.

“Mishima… please talk to me, I want to help you here.”

“I’m a coward…”

“What? Says who?”

“Me…”

“And why’s that?”

“Because… I’m the one that told Suzui to go to Kamoshida… Even though I knew what he was going to do to her…”

“Dude…” Ren mumbled, he was quite shocked to hear that, but he quickly shoved that to the back of his head, right now, he had to focus on helping Mishima.

“Mishima, you didn’t do anything wrong. You were forced by Kamoshida, weren’t you?”

“I still did it though, and Shiho got hurt because of me.”

“She’s fine Mishima, I promise you.”

“How do you know that?”

“Ann, Ryuji and I rescued her yesterday. She’s safe.”

There was a long moment of silence before Mishima spoke up again.

“But… But I still told her…”

“And I said it’s okay, now please stop this.”

“B-But what if you guys didn’t…”

“Mishima, don’t dwell on the ‘what if’s’, everything turned out fine.”

“No… No it didn’t. Even if she’s fine now, I’m still complicit in this… I… I don’t deserve to be here… I’m scum.”

“Mishima, you’re not scum, you were manipulated… Hey, I’m going to take a step forward, please don’t do anything reckless.” Ren said as he raised both arms and slowly stepped forward.

“Mishima, I’m going to be honest; I can’t imagine what you must be going through and how much mental stress you’ve had to deal with, but just know that whatever you’re going through won’t last forever. Stepping off that ledge is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” Ren said calmly as he took another step forward.

“Temporary?” Mishima mumbled.

“Yes, temporary. Mishima, please, I’m begging you here.”

“But… All I’m good for is taking orders from Kamoshida. Nobody would even care if I was gone.”

“Of course people would care. Your friends and family would all be devastated if you were gone.”

“I don’t… I don’t have any friends…”

“Well… I could be your friend, if you’d like?”

“You?”

“Yes.”

“No, you wouldn’t want anything to do with me if you knew what I did to you.”

“And what would that be?”

“I’m the one that leaked your criminal record to the school.”

“You did?”

“Yeah… Bet you want me to jump now, huh?”

“Of-fucking-course not! Mishima, I don’t care about my record being leaked, I care more about you being alive.”

“But I…” Mishima tried to speak but was cut off by Ren

“No ‘buts’. Mishima, you sound like you’re trying to convince yourself to jump, like you need justification to do it, but you don’t actually want to do it though, am I right?” Ren said as he slowly walked closer to Mishima.

“I- I-“ Mishima started mumbling as tears started streaming down his face, “I don’t… I don’t want to jump, I really don’t.” He continued as he began bawling. Ren was now right up against the fence and quickly hopped over it, pulling Mishima into a tight embrace.

“Easy there pal, just let it all out, then we can climb back over this fence, okay?”

“Y-Yeah…”

Ren and Mishima stood on the edge of the roof for a few minutes, Ren gently rubbing circles over Mishima’s back to help calm him down and trying to balance the both of them from falling off. Eventually, Mishima stopped, and both boys were able to climb back over the fence and onto the roof. Once over, Ren noticed there were students and a few teachers standing at the door, watching him and Mishima, letting out relieved breaths as Ren guided Mishima to the door.

Back at class 2-D, Ann stood by the window outside her classroom, watching as Ren was able to convince Mishima not to jump. She let go a breath she didn’t know she was holding as the two boys climbed back over the railing. Ann’s ears perked up as she heard her classmates talking about what just happened.

“Wow… Amamiya-kun just saved Mishima’s life.”

“That was incredible.”

“Maybe he’s not actually a criminal like those rumors said.”

Ann smiled as she heard people talking positively about Ren for a change. Ann turned around and saw Ren descend the staircase, along with a few other students followed closely behind him, most of them girls. Ann couldn’t help but feel slightly jealous at that.

“Amamiya-kun, that was so incredible what you just did!” One of the girls said gleefully.

“Yeah, you’re like, totally a hero.” Another one added. Ren just sighed at the girls’ continued praise of him.

“You guys sure did a one-eighty. Weren’t you all calling me a criminal yesterday?” Ren said bluntly, annoyance clear in his tone.

“Well that’s just because of the rumors, but now we know they weren’t true.” The girl replied. Ren just continued walking, but stopped when he noticed Ann. He smiled at her.

“Hey Goldilocks, you alright? You look worried.” Ren said, flashing her a bright smile.

“Not anymore, thanks to you. Is Mishima going to be okay though?” Ann replied.

“He’s okay. He was taken to the guidance councilor and is probably gonna leave early.”

“That’s good to hear. Hopefully he’ll be alright.” Ann said. After a few minutes of chaos the situation died down and the teachers were able to lead the students back into their classes.

School continued as normal, or at least as normal as things can be after someone attempts to take their own life. As the lessons went on, Ren and Ann could hear their murmuring classmates still talking about it. The bell for lunch rang and the noise level started to increase again.

“Hey Ann, roof’s gonna be closed, you still had something to tell me, right?” Ren asked.

“Yeah, I do,” Ann let out a nervous sigh, “Alright, I’m just gonna say it here…” She trailed off. Ann looked Ren in the eyes, but before she could speak up again, Ren was approached by some of his classmates.

“Hey, Amamiya-kun, you busy right now?” Asked one girl from the group.

“Kinda, why?” Ren replied.

“Oh, we were just wondering if you’d wanna join us for lunch.” Another girl chimed in, Ren sighed.

“Nah, I’ve already got plans for lunch, isn’t that right, Ann?” Ren said, giving her a wink. Ann blushed slightly.

“Ah, yeah. Ren and I were just about to go outside.” Ann muttered, Ren giggled slightly at her flustered response. One of the girls glared at Ann.

“Amamiya-kun, I wouldn’t trust her if I were you. She might like you now, but she’ll toss you aside when she’s bored.” She said, not caring that Ann was right there. Ann looked shocked and was about to protest, but Ren quickly got up from his seat and glared at the group in front of him.

“Shut the fuck up!” Ren barked, causing the others to flinch by his sudden outburst, “I’m not just gonna sit and watch you badmouth my friend. I want you all to either apologize to her, or piss off, preferably both, in that order.” Ren added, his gaze intense, causing his classmates to quiver slightly. They all bowed to Ann, apologized and hurriedly left the classroom.

“Thanks Ren, but you didn’t have to do that.”

“Sorry, but I can’t stand when people talk like that about people I care about.”

“Yeah, but you realize they’re just going to spread more rumors about you?”

“Let them talk. I couldn’t care less about what they say. The only ones that matter to me are you, Ryuji and Shiho.” Ren said. Morgana popped his head from out Ren’s bag to chime into the conversation.

“I matter too, right?”

“Of course you do, Morgana. Anyway, lets go meet up with Ryuji and Shiho. They’re probably waiting for us outside.”

“Oh, wait a second, there’s still something I needed to tell you.” Ann butted in, smiling at Ren.

“Sure, what’d you wanna say?”

“Well, I wanted to ask about your glasses. They’re still cracked from yesterday.” Ann said as she pointed a finger at Ren’s glasses. Ren took them off and held them up for her to see.

“Yeah, but they’re fine.”

“Well, I wanted to know if maybe… I could go shopping with you… To you know, find a new pair. It’s probably really tough to use them when they’re damaged, right?” Ann nervously mumbles out, covering her cheeks with her pigtails.

“Well, these glasses are fake, so the crack isn’t really an issue.”

“Wait, they’re fake? Then why do you wear them”

“They’ve got sentimental value to me. They were a gift from my older sister; I promised I’d wear them whenever I could.”

“Aw, that’s really cute. Well we can always try shopping for other stuff… If you don’t mind?”

“Sure; any excuse for me to spend more time with you.” Ren said as he winked and flashed Ann a cheeky grin, causing her to blush.

“Argh, no fair. Sneak attacks are not allowed!” Ann pouted as she replied. Ren chuckled again and the two teens left their classroom to meet with their other friends.

The two teens (and Morgana) walked out to the courtyard to look for their other friends.

“Yo, Ren-Ren, Ann! Over here!” Ryuji yelled from across the courtyard. He and Shiho were sitting together on the grass. Ren and Ann joined them on the grass.

“Dude, what you did this morning was crazy.” Ryuji said, draping an arm over Ren’s shoulder as he sat down.

“Yeah, but I’m just glad I able to reach him in time.” Ren replied.

“Do you know why he wanted to jump though?” Shiho inquired.

“He felt guilty about sending you to Kamoshida yesterday.” Ren answered.

“Oh…” Shiho mumbled, letting out a soft sigh. “I hope he’s alright. I should probably let him know that I don’t blame him for what happened. When he came to me yesterday, I could tell that he was being forced into doing it.” She continued, looking down at the ground. Ann rubbed her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic smile, a smile that Shiho returned.

“This just means we have even more reason to stop Kamoshida now. When do we go back in?” Shiho asked, looking directly at Ren.

“Ryuji and I are gonna get some supplies after school today, so how about tomorrow?”

“Hell yeah! I can’t wait to kick that guy’s ass!” Ryuji exclaimed as he pumped his fist in the air. The group continued to chat while on the grass, a few students would come up to talk to Ren for a bit, then would be on their way again.

“Ugh, this is starting to get annoying. I kinda wish everyone was scared of me again.” Ren moaned.

“You sure dude? It doesn’t seem so bad.” Ryuji inquired, raising his eyebrow.

“At least then people were being honest, even if they were trying to avoid me. Now, it’s people with a whole bunch of fake ass smiles and ulterior motives. I don’t wanna deal with that shit.” Ren replied, letting out a heavy sigh.

The bell indicating the end of lunch break rang and the group all separated, making their way to their respective classes. As Ren and Ann were walking, Ren bumped into Kamoshida, earning a stern glare from the man.

 _“Oh for fucks sake; this is getting really annoying.”_ Ren grumbled in English, Ann just scowled as she looked at the coach.

“Well now, look who we have here, the school ‘hero’ slash delinquent.” Kamoshida said, eyes still planted firmly on Ren.

“Can it, mop head. I’m not in the mood to deal with your crap.” Ren said bluntly, a small grin forming on his face.

“Tch, is that anyway to talk to a teacher?” Kamoshida scowled.

“Depends, do you consider rape an acceptable thing to do to a student?”

“Wha- How do… You’re the brat who pulled the fire alarm.” Kamoshida stuttered, his eyes went wide as he realized Ren was involved with Shiho’s escape.

“And you tried to rape Shiho, you pig!”

“Tch… You don’t have any evidence I did anything, and whatever you find, the principal will brush it all under the rug. But you on the other hand, I could have you expelled for pulling the alarm.”

“Well you don’t have evidence I did anything either, so I guess we’re at a stalemate.”

“For now, but I promise you, you’re gonna regret crossing me you brat.”

“Same to you. So, are we done here? Because I’m getting sick of staring at your dumb haircut.”

“Tch, as if your hair is any better!”

“Your hair looks like Anthony Sullivan’s smart mop after it was used to clean up a pile of turds and gorilla pubes.”

“What?”

“I said your hair looks like shit. So, we done here?”

“Listen here you little shit!” Kamoshida yelled, getting the attention of a couple of students in the hallway. Before Kamoshida could continue, Ms. Kawakami interrupted their little squabble.

“Excuse me, Kamoshida-san, but I’d like if my student could be in class on time. If you don’t mind, could you continue this conversation after school?” Kawakami said. Kamoshida scowled at her, causing her to tremble for a moment, he turned back to face Ren, and walked off without saying another word. Ren and Ann let out a relieved sigh.

“Thanks teach. If you hadn’t stepped in I might’ve swung at him.” Ren said.

“I know, that’s probably what he was hoping for, and it wouldn’t be the first time either.”

“What do you mean?”

“He did the same thing to Sakamoto-kun last year. I really can’t stand that man.”

“You mean when he broke Ryuji’s leg?”

“Yes. He let Sakamoto throw the first punch so that he could claim self-defense.” Kawakami said as she let out a soft sigh, “Listen Amamiya-kun, for your own sake, stay away from Kamoshida.”

“Sorry, teach. No can do.” Ren replied, earning a depressed sigh from his teacher.

“Please just listen to me, Kamoshida might only be a PE teacher, but he’s got principal Kobayakawa at his beck and call. You seem like a good kid, so please try not to antagonize him any further, or else he might try and get you expelled. That’s the only warning I can give you.”

“I think he might already be planning to, but I’ll be fine. Thanks for the heads up.” Ren said as he flashed his teacher a smile. He and Ann entered their classroom and proceeded with the rest of their classes for the day.

The school day had ended and Ren and Ryuji were now on the train to Shibuya, talking about what equipment would suit them best while in the palace.

“So Ren-Ren, what kinda gun do ya think would suit you best?” Ryuji asked. Ren placed a hand on his chin and hummed as he thought.

“I think I’ll stick with the handgun. Maybe I could buy two, go full on John Woo in the palace.” Ren chuckled.

“Oh? You mean like in ‘A Better Tomorrow’?”

“Ah, I see you are a man of culture as well.”

“Hey, I love dumb action movies. They’re always a blast to watch.”

“Yeah, but let’s not go off on a tangent about movies here; what guns are you gonna get?”

“Uh… Probably just gonna buy a better shotgun. I’m thinking something with a break-action and a lot of punch.”

“Okay, let’s pretend I know what that means.”

“Seriously dude? Break action basically the type of action the gun uses to function. Just think of a double barrel shotgun: The gun has a hinged opening where the chamber meets the barrel. By opening the gun, it is easy to see if it's loaded or not. You understand now?” Ryuji explained, Ren just gave him an incredulous stare.

“Dude, you sure you weren’t a Texan in a previous life?”

The train came to a stop in the Shibuya underground, Ryuji led Ren to the Station Square upstairs and then to Central Street. When they arrived, Ren just stared at everything around him. He hadn’t had a chance to fully explore the whole city yet, so all the sights were still new to him.

“Enjoying the sight?” Ryuji asked, giving Ren a wide grin.

“Yeah… Tokyo’s pretty wild.”

“Not too crowded for you, huh?”

“Not really. My family and I went to New York a few years ago, so the large crowds ain’t too bad.” Ren replied. After gawking for a bit, Ryuji led him down an alley to a secluded building. Ren stopped to stare at the bright neon green sign above the door; his eyes drifted down to the windows, checking out the models being displayed. He turned to Ryuji and saw the grin plastered across his face.

“Well, whatcha think?” He asked, Ren returned the grin and raised a hand, extending his thumb and his pinky finger.

“Gnarly.” Was all Ren said as he entered the building, followed closely by Ryuji. As Ren stepped through the door, he was enthralled by the interior of the place. It was fairly dim, with model guns and military equipment all on full display. Ren’s eyes darted around the building, not sure what he should focus on. Suddenly, Ren’ attention shifted on the tall gruff man behind the counter, he was slouching in his seat, sucking on a lollipop.

“Yo, Iwai. Been a while, huh?” Ryuji greeted as he walked over to the man.

“Yo, how’s it going, Blondie?” Iwai replied in a deep voice, sitting straight in his chair as he extended a fist, Ryuji pounded his knuckles against his before turning back to face Ren.

“Ren, this is Iwai, my old boss.”

“Uh, hey…” Ren muttered as he waved to the man.

“Hey Blondie, what’d I say about bringing amateurs to my store?” Iwai stated, raising an eyebrow as he analyzed Ren.

“He ain’t no amateur; he’s a friend of mine and he wants to get into model guns too.” Ryuji replied, crossing his arms and flashing a toothy grin at Iwai.

“Alright, c’mere kid. If you’re serious about getting into the hobby, then I don’t mind helping out new blood.” Iwai said, his lips formed a thin grin. Ren approached the counter and Iwai whipped out a catalogue, handing it to Ren.

“Give that a look and tell me what you want.” Iwai said as he slouched back into his chair. Ren eyed the catalogue, looking at the various guns and prices that were listed. Ryuji pointed to a pair of model handguns, two matte black Baretta 92FS, they were going for 30,000 ¥ each. Ren’s lips curled into a smile as soon as he saw them.

“Hey Iwai, give me two of these.” Ren said as he showed the catalogue to Iwai, pointing at the guns. The man gave him a nod and a smirk before he got up and went to the back.

“Dude, those are the guns from A Better Tomorrow, ain’t it” Ryuji asked.

“The very same. What are you gonna take though?”

“I saw this Remington 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun while skimming the catalogue. It’s 50,000 ¥, but Iwai can give me a discount.”

“Heh, you gonna saw the front off and call it “Boomstick” too?” Ren joked.

“Ha, maybe… maybe I’ll change my name to Ash Williams too.” Ryuji replied.

“Wait, you’ve watched the Evil Dead?” Ren asked, giving Ryuji an incredulous look.

“And Army of Darkness.” The blonde replied.

“Dude… You are seriously the coolest guy I’ve ever met.” Ren said, tapping Ryuji on the shoulder. Iwai came back and placed the guns Ren had asked for, after quickly inspect them, Ren smiled and grabbed the catalogue again, this time looking for guns for Ann and Shiho. Ryuji told Iwai about the shotgun he wanted, while Ren continued to browse, looking through the various rifles and SMGs available. Ren spotted a very iconic looking SMG, the Uzi.

“I wonder if Ann would like this?” Ren thought to himself as he looked at the price, “25,000 ¥? That’s not bad, let’s get it.” He continued thinking. Ryuji popped his head over Ren’s shoulder.

“Looking at what to get for the girls?” Ryuji inquired, Ren nodded.

“Yeah. I think I’ve got something good for Ann, but now we need to get something for Shiho and Morgana.”

“Don’t worry about me, my slingshot is perfectly fine.” Morgana chimed in, calling out from inside the bag. The boys just shrugged and continued browsing.

“Well me ‘n Ann have stuff for close-range, you got a handgun for mid-range, how about we get Shiho a sniper?”

“Sniper?” Ren pondered as he skimmed through the catalogue. There were a few snipers on offer, but all were quite pricey.

“Jeez, we need to find a way to earn money, fast.” Ren mumbled. Morgana chimed in again.

“Why not take it from the shadows we fight in the palace?”

“We can do that?”

“Yeah, I’ll show you next time we go in.” Morgana said. The boys continued looking through the book, finding a suitable gun that wasn’t crazy expensive. They settled on a black Ruger M77, for 75,000 ¥, scope included. The boys looked at the guns that they ordered and totaled the price tag, 210 000 ¥. The boys let out a sigh, realizing just how much they were about to spend. Iwai was generous enough to give the boys a 25% discount, but the price tag was still quite hefty. Ren took out his debit card and handed it to Iwai.

“Alright, so that’s… 157 500¥. Jeez, this is nearly $1500. I don’t even spend this much for skateboarding.” Ren muttered.

“Don’t worry dude, you ain’t the only one paying.” Ryuji said as he handed his card to Iwai as well, “Iwai, we’re splittin’ the cost.” Ryuji said with a grin, Iwai just nodded. The boys left the store with their purchase, bumping fists as they went their separate ways.

“Alright, now that that’s out of the way, let’s check out that doctor in Yongen.” Ren said to himself, Morgana popped out of the bag to rest on his shoulder.

“Try not to embarrass yourself again.” He playfully mocked the boy.

“Do you want to sleep outside, Morgana?”

“…I’ll be quiet.” Morgana said as he hid back in the bag, getting a chuckle out of Ren.

One train ride later and Ren was back in Yongen. He walked past the second hand store but stopped as he noticed an old CRT tv and a second hand PlayStation 2 for sale. Ren stared at the tv and console, contemplating whether it would be wise investment.

“It’s only 5000¥… I’ve already spent what, 78,750¥ today? What’s another 5000¥?” Ren pondered. After a few minutes of intense consideration, he decided to buy it.

“Yo, old man. I wanna buy that tv and PS2.” Ren said to the owner as he pointed to the tv. The man nodded.

“That’s 5000¥ sonny. I’m glad someone’s buying this old thing, I was worried it would just sit here collecting dust. Here, I’ve got some games for it too, I’ll throw it in for free.”

“Wha- Are you serious? Thank you so much!” Ren exclaimed, bowing to the man. The man gave Ren a plastic bag with a handful of games for the console, some of the games included were: Silent Hill, Resident Evil 4, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Final Fantasy 10, Devil May Cry 3 and a few other games Ren didn’t recognize, but what really caught Ren’s attention was the copy of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3. Ren’s eyes bugged out of his head as soon as he laid eyes on it.

“Oh. My. God…” He mumbled, not taking his eyes of the game. The man waved a hand in front of Ren’s face to get his attention.

“Hey sonny, you stay with boss, right? Do you need me to drop it off by his place?”

“Nah, I can carry it. Just gimme a sec, I need to speak with the doctor around the corner, then I’ll pick it up.” Ren replied. He handed the man the money and went to the doctor, grinning the whole way there.

Ren arrived in front of the clinic, he took a deep breath before he entered. The interior of the clinic was fairly standard, there were signs and various pamphlets clinging to the walls, as well as a potted plant. Ren turned his head to the left, noticing the window to the reception, as well as the doctor that left him starstruck the other day.

“Oh? So you decided to come. What can I help you with?” She asked, Ren attempted to speak but accidently chocked on his own spit, causing him to cough for a bit.

“Oh, do you have a cold perhaps? Please head to the examination room and I’ll be with you in a second.” She said. Ren just nodded as he entered the room.

“Okay, let me just check your temperature first…” The doctor said, Ren raised a hand.

“A-Actually, I don’t have a cold… I just choked on… my spit…” Ren awkwardly responded, earning a chuckle from the doctor.

“Okay then, if you aren’t sick, why did you come here? You’re not here to ask me out, are you?”

“N-No! Not that, I uh…”

“I’m joking. You get flustered quite easily, you know.”

“P-Please don’t tease me…” Ren mumbled, the doctor started chuckling again.

“A-Anyway… The thing is… I’m a skater, and I get hurt fairly often, so I was hoping I could get some first aid kits and medicine for when I get hurt.” Ren nervously said. The doctor placed a hand on her chin and hummed to herself, then she smiled.

“You know, buying medicine and first aid can be quite costly, can a student like you really afford it?” She asked, the smile not leaving her face. Ren cursed himself internally, regretting the crazy amount of money he just spent in one day.

“Uh… Is there a way I can work for it?” Ren asked, nervously looking at the doctor,

“Hm… That’s not a terrible idea. You’re a high school student that’s fairly active, you’ve got a good build too, hmm… Okay then.” The doctor said, eyeing Ren from head to toe. “How would you like to become a test subject for my research?”

“What?”

“My test subject. You see, I’m looking for a young person around your age to help me out. But I haven’t been able to find anyone, even after putting an ad in the paper. Are you up for it?”

“If it means I can get the stuff I’m looking for… then yes.”

“Good, no take-backs. Now, you’ll be participating in clinical trials for my medicine.”

“Uh… Okay?”

“Hang on, I’ll be right back.” The doctor said as she walked to a small fridge, taking out a vial of some strange liquid, handing it to Ren. “Here you go.” She said with a soft giggle and a slight smirk. Ren couldn’t help but stare, feeling an odd mix of fear and arousal from her smile. He looked back down nervously at the vial, not knowing what the hell was in it.

“Remember kid, no take-backs. Now, down the hatch.” She said, leaning back slightly and motioning to Ren to gulp it down. Ren took a deep breath, steadying himself. He raised the vial.

“Bottoms up.” Ren said as he gulped it down in one go. As soon as the vial was empty, the doctor moved in closer to Ren, inspecting his eyes and face, as well as peppering him with questions. Ren found it hard to focus for a moment, still trying to comprehend the taste he was feeling in his mouth; It was bitter, yet sour, it was beyond description.

“So, are you doing okay? You’re not feeling sick are you?” She asked, sounding mildly concerned.

“Nah, I’m goo…” Ren tried to respond, but suddenly fell to the floor, blacking out.

About an hour later and Ren woke up, finding himself on a hospital bed. He looked around and noticed the doctor sitting in her chair, smiling at him.

“Good evening. You were out for quite a while.” She said.

“How long was I out?” Ren groggily replied.

“About and hour or so. Do you remember anything from the moment you took the medicine until now?”

“Uh…”

“From the look in your eyes, I’d say you don’t. You briefly woke from your coma, but you were completely dazed during the entire examination… You eventually lost consciousness and fell back asleep.” She said, Ren lifted up his hoodie and T-shirt to check for scars on his abdomen, fortunately, there were none. He heard the doctor giggle as he covered his belly again.

“Don’t worry, all your organs are fine. Anyway, the reason you lost consciousness was because of the taste. It produces a foul smell when it mixes with gastric juices, similar to surstromming.” She said, giving Ren another pleasant smile, causing him to blush slightly.

“Thanks to you, I was able to get some good data. Now it’s my turn to uphold my end of the deal. That’s why I waited for you to wake up. Also, keep this between the two of us; I don’t want the general public to know about my original medicines, so you’re strictly prohibited from disclosing what happens here to anyone… Understood?”

“Same goes for you.”

“Alright then, we have a deal. As long as you come here for it, I’ll give you the medicine at a good price whenever you want… Oh, I just realized, we haven’t been introduced yet. I’m Tae Takemi, and you are?”

“Ren Amamiya.”

“Well then, Ren Amamiya, I look forward to your continued patronage.” Takemi said with a slight grin. The two spent a few more minutes talking and Ren was able to buy some medicine for a pretty decent price. He exited the clinic and went back to the second hand store where he bought the tv and console. With a little help from the man, Ren was able to carry the tv to Leblanc. As he entered, he had Sojiro help him carry the tv upstairs.

“Sheesh, kid. Give a guy a warning next time.” Sojiro tiredly mumbled.

“Sorry, thanks for the help though.”

“Don’t mention it. Anyway, I’m gonna close up the store.” Sojiro said as he walked down the stairs. Ren began setting up the tv and console, grinning like a little child.

“Hey Ren, it’s getting late. Shouldn’t you be heading to bed by now?” Morgana said, nudging Ren as he was connecting the wires.

“Yeah, after I finish setting up.” Ren replied. After a couple of minutes the tv and console was completely set up. Ren decided it would be best to listen to Morgana and head to bed since he and the others would be heading to the palace tomorrow. He changed into his PJ’s and hopped into bed, passing out in a few minutes while Morgana rested comfortably on Ren’s chest.


	9. Joker And The Thief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Song is Joker and the Thief by Wolfmother  
> -More skater terms:  
> >FS: Frontside – Nose of the board is facing the front  
> >BS: Backside – Tail of the board is facing the front  
> >50-50 – Grinding with both trucks touching the rail  
> >Boardslide – Grinding with the deck (Wooden part) of the board

15/04/2016

Tokyo, Japan

Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya

It was a cool Friday morning in Yongen and Ren Amamiya woke up with a spring in his step. Today was the day he and his friends would hit up the palace. He quickly got dressed, grabbed his bag, board and cat, and darted out of the café.

“Hey, be careful. You’re gonna ruin my fur!” Morgana moaned as he was shoved into Ren’s bag.

“You’re not a cat though, so why do you even care?” Ren said with a smug grin.

“I… Ugh, forget I said anything.” Morgana mumbled as he retreated back into the bag. Ren plugged in his earphones and pulled out his phone, looking for a song to play.

_‘Now Playing: Police Truck – Dead Kennedys’_

Ren smiled, he took a small run up as he threw down his board, hopping on and riding his way to the station, humming to the music as he went. As Ren approached the staircase leading to the underground subway he tucked his knees and jumped, ollieing onto the railing, performing an FS 50-50 and grinding down most of the rail and nearly losing his balance as he landed at the on the tiles of the subway.

“Bit sketchy that time, gonna have to try that again later.” Ren said to himself.

“Ugh, do you really have to do that while I’m in here?” Morgana moaned from inside the bag, Ren sniggered to himself as he pulled one earplug out.

“You could always walk to my school, you know.”

“Ugh, fine. Just try to be a bit more gentle, please?” Morgana said as he popped his head out the bag, giving Ren a pleading look with his big blue eyes.

“Alright, fine. I’ll take it easy.” Ren said begrudgingly.

Ren leaned against the wall, browsing his phone as he listened to music. Ren’s phone suddenly vibrated, he smirked as he saw a notification from the group chat.

**R** **yuji:** So today’s the day we go in, yeah?

 **Ren:** Yep. Don’t forget to bring the guns

 **Shiho:** Guns? (⊙_⊙)

 **Ryuji:** Yeah, me ‘n Ren-Ren bought them yesterday

 **Ann:** How were you able to buy guns? Aren’t they illegal? ＼(º □ º l|l)/

 **Ren:** They’re just models, Ann

 **Ann:** That just makes me more confused. How do model guns help us?

 **Ryuji:** Morgana said that if the guns look real enough, the palace ruler will think they’re real too

 **Ren:** The guns we already have are fake too, so I’m pretty sure these new ones will work just fine. We got for you guys too

 **Shiho:** Really? Whatcha get us?

 **Ryuji:** We got you a sniper and Ann an SMG

 **Shiho:** Ooh, those sound cool. Can’t wait to shoot Kamoshida in his big stupid face (☆ω☆)

 **Ann:** Same (✧ω✧)

 **Ryuji:** Damn… you girls don’t mess around. It’s kinda scary (・_・;)

 **Ren:** Can you blame them tough? ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌

 **Ryuji:** Guess not. Anyway, where we meeting? Roof’s closed, right?

 **Ren:** That shouldn’t be a problem I’ll just lockpick it. Can I borrow a bobby pin from one of you girls?

 **Ann:** Sure

 **Ren:** Alright. We meet on the roof after school.

Ren smiled as he put his phone away. His train arrived soon after and he hopped on. Ren was lucky enough to find a seat this time, quickly taking it before any of the other passengers could.

“Thank God. I really hate standing on these crowded trains…” Ren trailed off as he saw the same old lady from the other day standing on the train. Ren sighed as he stood up, calling the lady over.

“Hey, lady with the grey hair.” Ren said as he waved to her, she looked up and smiled as she saw Ren.

“Oh, why hello again young man.” She said as she waved back.

“Hi again. Anyway, you want to take my seat again?” Ren said, offering his seat to the lady.

“Oh why thank you, I…” The lady tried to say, but the seat was suddenly taken by a man in a suit.

“Hey, that seat was for this lady.” Ren said as he lightly tapped the man’s shoulder, the man then pretended to fall asleep to avoid dealing with the curly haired teen, this really ticked Ren off. Ren leaned closer to the man, gently placing his hand on his shoulder, grinning slightly.

“If you don’t move, I’m gonna give you a big ol’ kiss, right on the lips.” Ren said, leaning towards the man’s ear. The man immediately got up from the seat, giving Ren a nervous look. Ren snickered to himself as the man left, letting the lady sit down.

“Thank you again young man, I really appreciate it.” She said, flashing Ren a kindly old smile.

“No problem ma’am, happy to help.” Ren replied, returning the smile.

“You know, this is the second time you’ve helped me this week. Here, let me return the favor.” The lady said as she reached into her purse, Ren raised a hand for her to stop.

“Please ma’am, it’s alright. There’s no need for any of that, really.”

“Oh nonsense. A good deed should be rewarded, here you go.” The lady reached her hand towards Ren, holding a 5000 ¥ note. Ren eyed the note for a moment and reluctantly took it.

“Uh, thank you, but you really didn’t need to.”

“I know, but I wanted to.” The lady said. It struck a cord with Ren, he smirked and bowed to the lady, thanking her again.

“If only this country had more people like you. Maybe we wouldn’t be having all these problems with politics and these mental shutdowns. Oh, it looks like this is your stop. Do enjoy your day, young man.” She continued. Ren looked up in surprise as the lady knew his stop, but then remembered that she saw him get off the other day. Ren looked at the LED screen and she was right, the train was about to make his stop. Ren thanked the lady again before getting off and walking to his next transfer.

Ren’s next train was already at the station and he quickly hopped on before the doors closed. The train was pretty packed again, so he just had to stand and wait. Ren pulled out his phone again to change the current song that was playing.

_‘Now Playing: Journey To The End Of East Bay – Rancid’_

Ren continued jamming to his music on the train. After a while he reached his stop at Aoyama-Itchome station. He hopped off the train and onto his board, taking it easy for Morgana’s sake. As Ren rode on his board to school he saw Ann and Shiho walking together; he smiled as he approached the girls on his board.

“Yo! Goldilocks, Shiho.” Ren greeted as he popped up behind them. Ann turned around to face him, flashing him a bright smile.

“Morning Ren.” Ann said, Shiho turned around and smiled as well.

“Hey Ren.” Shiho said.

“You two seem to be in a happy mood.”

“Of course we are. Today’s the day we go to the palace. Ann and I are totally pumped up.”

“That’s good to hear. Welp let’s head inside and get today’s lessons over with.” Ren said, getting a nod from both girls.

As the trio continued to walk, Ren overheard a conversation from a group of students, they were talking about how Mishima nearly jumped off the roof yesterday.

“Guess that makes sense, it was a pretty big deal after all.” Ren thought to himself as he and the girls walked through the entrance, carrying his board in his hand. The group split up and went to their respective classes, Ren and Ann were sitting quietly at their desks, waiting for first period to start when Ms. Kawakami approached Ren, asking to speak with him outside, which he complied.

“You wanted to speak to me about something, teach?” Ren asked.

“Yes, remember yesterday when I said Kamoshida would try to get you expelled?”

“Yeah?”

“Well… He’s apparently already spoken to principal Kobayakawa. He’s claiming you were the one to pull the fire alarm.”

“Tch, for real? That bastard.”

“Nothing’s been confirmed yet, but I felt like I should at least give you a heads up. They’ll likely come to a decision by May 2nd.”

“Huh, well thanks for telling me at least. I appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it. Anyway, let’s head back to class.” Kawakami said as she and Ren returned. Ren quickly relayed the information to Ann, her expression was a mixture of anger and despair.

“But he cant prove you were the one that did it.” Ann said, furrowing her brows.

“I know, but that doesn’t really matter. If we can steal Kamoshida’s treasure before the 2nd then I should be fine.” Ren replied, Ann nodded. The rest of the day carried on as normal and by the end of school, the group of teens and their cat all made their way to the roof. Ren told the others about his possible expulsion, which added more pressure on to their task now that they had a deadline, but it also fired the group up, giving them even more motivation to stop Kamoshida. The gang left the roof and made their way to the alley in front of the entrance.

“Everyone ready?” Ren asked as he took out his phone, he glanced at his friends, all giving him an affirming nod. Ren smirked as he pressed the Metaverse app, sending them all to the castle. Once inside, Ren lifted his mask and turned to Ryuji.

“Alright Ryuji, lemme see those guns.” Ren said as his lips curled up into a smirk. Ryuji nodded as he pulled out all the model guns they bought the previous day. He handed Ren his dual Baretta’s; Ren twirled them in his hands before tucking them under his belt. Ann and Shiho took hold of their weapons, examining them in their hands until they both let out a slight giggle. Ann attached her Uzi around her waist while Shiho took off her hat and comically stored her Ruger M77 in it before placing it back on her head, Ren and Morgana let out a slight chuckle while Ryuji and Ann slowly clapped. Morgana walked up to the entrance and turned around, clearing his throat to get everyone’s attention.

“The shadow’s are currently unaware we’re here, but we better brace ourselves for anything; there’s no telling what to expect while we’re in there.” Morgana said, getting a collective nod from everyone. Morgana looked at Ren and flashed him a wide grin.

“We’re gonna be counting on you, Joker!”

“Joker?” Ren asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s a code name. I figured us continuing to use our real names might have an effect on the palace and the ruler, so we’ll use code names instead.”

“Uh… Joker?” Ren said looking down at his clothes, “I don’t look like a clown though.”

“Huh? What do clowns have to do with this?” Morgana asked.

“Y’know… _Joker_ , the Clown Prince of Crime?” Ren said, looking at Morgana with expectant eyes.

“I don’t know what Joker you’re referring to, but I chose the name because you’re our trump card, seeing as you have the ability to change your Persona.”

“Oh, like the joker in a deck of cards?”

“Precisely!” Morgana haughtily exclaimed.

“Alright, Joker works for me, I guess. What about the rest of you?” Ren asked.

“Next up is you, Ryuji. You’ll be… Let’s see… Thug.” Morgana said with a smirk.

“You tryna pick a fight with me, cat!?” Ryuji barked while the others snickered behind him.

“I’m **not** a cat!”

“Never mind, I’ll pick it myself! Hm… When it comes to me, it’s gotta be this mask. Alright, from now on, you can call me: Skull!” Ryuji exclaimed proudly, Morgana just sighed.

“Ooh, what about Morgana?” Ann chimed in.

“Why not just shorten his name and call him Mona?” Ren spoke up.

“Well if you think it easier to call me that, then I’ll go with it.” Morgana replied.

“Okay, now it’s the girls’ turn. Let’s do Ann first.” Ryuji said, getting a chuckle out of Ren.

“Phrasing, Ryuji.” Ren said as he continued laughing, Shiho chuckled as well while Ann went red in embarrassment.

“Judging by her costume…” Morgana pondered.

“I mean, she’s got that tail and stuff so… Uh, you got anything, Joker?”

“Well since I’m already a DC villain, why not call Ann Catwoman?” Ren said, turning to face Ann.

“Nah, I’m more of a Marvel girl myself.” Ann replied.

“True, I still remember how much you crushed on Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth.” Shiho remarked, giggling slightly.

“S-Shiho!” Ann yelled, blushing a little as Shiho playfully teased her. Ann calmed herself down and pondered for a moment before deciding on a name.

“How about… Panther. That sounds pretty cool, right?” Ann said.

“She’s a cougar…!” Morgana added, causing everyone to inwardly cringe, except Shiho, who burst out laughing.

“Mona, never call me that again. Ever!” Ann said sternly.

“Okay, my turn!” Shiho beamed.

“Hm… Since she’s got this whole magician theme going on… Why not Blaine? Like that one famous magician?” Ryuji said, getting an incredulous look from Ann and Ren.

“How do you know David Blaine?” Ren asked, Ryuji just shrugged.

“I saw a commercial a while ago, I just remembered it now.” He said.

“Blaine does have a nice ring to it… Alright, let’s go with Blaine!” Shiho said with a wide grin.

“Alright, from here on out, we’ll be going by Joker, Skull, Panther, Blaine and Mona.” Morgana said, the team nodded.

“Okay, I’ll show you all the basics of palace infiltration as we go. Come on, follow me!” Morgana said as he turned around.

As the group began walking, Joker’s attention was suddenly brought to the blue cell doors that seemed to appear out of nowhere, and beside it stood Justine.

“My master would like a word with you.” She said. Joker eyed the door and then his teammates, they stopped in front of the castle and began talking to Mona, so he decided to approach the cell while everyone was still busy.

In the blink of an eye, Ren suddenly found himself back in the Velvet Room, as well as wearing the prison uniform again.

“You wanted to see me, Igor?” Ren asked, Caroline suddenly struck the bars with her baton, startling him.

“The hell was that for!?” Ren barked.

“Show some manners inmate! You’re addressing our master here!” Caroline barked back.

“Ugh, you know, maybe if you were a little less bitchy, I would.”

“What was that!?” Caroline exclaimed, tightly gripping her baton in her hand. Igor cleared his throat, getting Ren and Caroline to stop bickering again.

“Good work, Trickster. It seems you have remembered my words… You truly make it worth rehabilitating you.” Igor said in his disturbingly deep voice.

“I still don’t understand what you mean by that.” Ren replied, Igor let out a soft chuckle.

“I am not attempting to withhold information on you. The essence of the rehabilitation that you must complete will be explained in due time. Once you encounter friends who share your aesthetics and discover your place in reality… Only then, I will explain it all. Such a day should not be far off.” Igor said as he adjusted his posture, now leaning on his desk with both arms while his chin rested on one hand.

“This time, I wish to introduce you to the aid we are providing.”

“Aid?” Ren questioned.

“Due to your potential in wielding the power of the wild card, you can handle more than one Persona. That power holds infinite possibilities. We will assist you in nurturing your potential. To that end, we must execute your Persona.”

“Huh?” Ren muttered, earning another chuckle from Igor.

“Do not be alarmed. Personas are personalities that exist within you… Thus, you will only be discarding personalities to have them be reborn as new ones.” Igor continued.

Justine and Caroline suddenly brought out two guillotines, causing a bead of sweat to drop from Ren’s forehead. The twins approached Ren and gave him a more thorough explanation, telling him that executing two Personas on the guillotine would make one stronger Persona, calling it a fusion. Ren nodded as he decided which Persona he would sacrifice.

“Let’s see here… I’ve got Doyle, Silky, Pixie, Incubus and a Bicorn from the last time I was in the Palace…” Ren thought to himself. He considered fusing Doyle, since he was Ren’s strongest Persona, but he suddenly felt a pit form in his stomach and a distant voice in the back of his head telling him not to. Ren wasn’t entirely sure why that happened, but chalked it up to his own gut feeling and decided to fuse Pixie and Incubus instead. Ren watched as the twins threw a tarp over the personas and put them under the guillotines. Ren winced as he watched the blades drop and slice their heads off; suddenly two bright lights emerged from the personas and fused into one, turning into a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, wearing a black leotard, black thigh-high boots, elbow length black gloves and large wings on her back.

“Greetings, I am Succubus.” She said as she flew towards Ren, gently stroking his cheek from the opposite side of the cell. Ren was flustered for a bit, stepping back from the Persona, causing her to giggle.

“You’re a cutie. I’ll be in your care, so please watch over me.” She said, blowing a kiss at Ren.

“Uh… Sure, I’ll try.” Ren said as he scratched the back of his neck, the Succubus then disappeared. After the fusion, Ren was allowed to leave the Velvet Room. And in a blink of an eye, Ren was back in the castle.

“Yo, Joker! Watcha starin’ at?” Skull said, tapping Joker on the shoulder.

“Uh, sorry. I was thinking about something.” Ren replied. He considered telling the others about the Velvet Room but decided against it, feeling that explaining it would be too much trouble right now.

“Uh, okay? Anyway, let’s get going.” Skull said, dragging Ren by the arm. The group entered through the window again. Joker and Mona took point, peeking into the hallway for any enemies. The coast was clear, so they stealthily made their way through the hallway, passing through the door to their right at the end of the hallway.

They continued through the room and into the passageway, sneaking past the weird sex-dungeon room that Panther had awoken her Persona in. She shuddered a little as they passed, Joker tilted up his mask and gave her a comforting smile, brining her mood back up slightly. They continued through the passage and entered a new room with five pillars and two guards patrolling it.

“Okay, what’s the plan here? Do we fight or continue sneaking?” Mona whispered. Joker used his third eye to gage the strength of the guards, smirking as he realized how weak they were.

“Easy, we take them out.” Joker said as he quickly yet quietly snuck into the room, hiding behind a pillar and waiting for a chance to strike. The guard turned its back on Joker, who swiftly took the opportunity to pounce, leaping onto the guards back and tearing off its mask. Joker jumped back onto the ground as the guard turned into black goo before taking the form of a Silky; the other guard noticed and came to join the fight, morphing into the same black goo and turning into a floating green horse with only two legs and seemed to be made from seaweed. Joker’s teammates quickly joined him at his side, easily outnumbering the shadows. Joker smirked as he ripped off his mask and summoned his Persona, Doyle. Joker jumped up, having Doyle whack him into the air with his axe-guitar, launching him high up above the shadows. Joker pulled out his pistols and started blasting away, unloading bullets at the shadows as he spun in the air, tucking his legs and rolling as he landed behind the wounded enemies. Blaine pulled her sniper from her hat and got down on one knee to steady her aim, firing a round straight through the Silky’s head, leaving nothing but black smoke. Skull and Panther charged at the green horse, Panther struck it with her whip while Skull blasted it away with his Remington. The last shadow withered away into black smoke.

“Hell yeah!” Skull exclaimed as he pumped a fist in the air.

“Good job, team. Let’s get going!” Joker said as he continued walking ahead.

Joker and his team continued through the next hallway, taking cover behind some barrels as more guards passed by.

“Joker, there’s more guards, its your call with how we deal with them.” Mona said, Joker nodded back. He peeked over the barrel, checking on the guards, he then turned to Blaine.

“Blaine, this one’s yours.” He said; Blaine nodded as she pulled out her rifle, leaning it on the barrel and fired. She blasted the helmet off the guard. Joker, Panther and Mona leapt over the barrel, darting towards the guard. The guard morphed into two shadows, one of a knight in steel armor, wielding a spear and riding on top a red horse and the other was of a vaguely human looking plant, with large petals on its head. Joker ripped off his mask and summoned his new Persona, Succubus.

“Succubus, Agi!” Joker yelled as Succubus flew past him, blowing a kiss at the flowery shadow, setting it ablaze. The shadow fell to the ground, writhing in pain, the knight darted towards Joker, spear raised and poised to strike. Joker pulled out his machete and was just fast enough to block the attack. The knight used his position on his horse as leverage, forcing Joker to take a knee. Mona, seeing as his teammate was in trouble, summoned Zorro and sent a gust of wind, pushing the shadow off Joker. From behind the barrel, Blaine took another shot, but it deflected off the knights armor, flying straight back at her. Skull swiftly tackled her out of the way, the bullet just barely grazing him.

“You okay, Blaine?” Skull asked, not realizing the position he was currently in, Blaine let out a small yelp as she began blushing underneath her mask.

“Ah- S-Skull… Y-You’re kinda… close.” Blaine stammered, turning her head to the side so she wasn’t looking him in the eye. Skull looked confused for a moment until he realized he was face-to-face, right on top of Blaine, leaving them both in a rather compromising position. Skull quickly got off of her, flusterdly apologizing as he helped her back up. Panther giggled as she glanced over to them, turning back to assist Joker. She pulled off her mask, summoning Carmen.

“Carmen, Dormina!” She commanded, which her Persona complied. Carmen took a puff of her cigar and blew the smoke at the shadow, putting both the knight and his horse to sleep. Joker took the chance to attack, pouncing on the shadow and slashed at it with his machete. The sudden flurry of Joker’s blade knocked the shadow onto the ground; with both enemies now on the ground, the team dashed forward and commenced with an all out attack, quickly dispatching of both shadows. After the battle Joker and his team continued their infiltration, walking through the door at the end of the room and making their way up the stairs.

“Say, Mona, how big is this place anyway?” Joker asked as he and his team continued walking.

“We’re still near the beginning. There’s still tons more we need to travel.” Mona replied, receiving a nod from Joker.

“In that case, let’s try to conserve energy then. We can sneak past most enemies, but we’ll fight if necessary.” Ren said, everyone nodded in agreement. They continued down the hallway, sneaking past the patrolling guard and proceeded through the door at the end of the passage, entering a room with iron bars, blocking off a table.

“Hey Joker, there’s something in there.” Skull said, pointing at the table.

“These bars are kinda blocking us off though… Mona, do you think you could squeeze through?” Blaine asked.

“Nah, his head’s way too big.” Skull joked, getting an annoyed growl from Mona in return. Joker used his third eye, trying to find a way through. He noticed the glowing blue footprints on the ground, leading to a marble goats head with a chain attached. Joker yanked on the chain and the bars retracted upwards, allowing them in.

“Ooh, nice job Joker.” Panther said.

“It’s no biggie. Let’s see what they were guarding behind these bars.” Joker said as the group approached the table.

“What? All that for a dumb map!?” Skull moaned, slouching over the table.

“Hey, maps aren’t dumb, they’re extremely useful, especially for traversing palaces.” Mona explained. Joker grabbed the map and began analyzing through it.

“Let’s see here… We’re currently in the west building, if we go through the door at the end of the room, it’ll take us back to the foyer. From there we can head over to the east building, then we take the stairs up to the third floor. Seems easy enough; let’s get going then.” Joker said as he folded the map and shoved it in his pocket.

The team headed through the door into the foyer. They had no way to the other side of the room, but Joker had the idea to use the chandeliers to cross over. They all followed his lead and made it to the east building. They entered the next room and encountered another guard; unable to hide, Joker rushed it, jumping onto a table and over the guard, grabbing it’s mask in the process. The guard burst into black goo and morphed into a group of shadows, taking the form of the knight from earlier as well as three Bicorns. Panther, Skull and Morgana charged at the shadows while Blaine aimed her rifle, firing at one of the Bicorns, killing it. Skull summoned Captain Kidd, but before he could order an attack a Bicorn blasted him back with a gust of wind, knocking him to the ground.

“Skull!” Blaine yelled from the back, immediately running over to him. The knight charged at the fallen blonde, but Joker swiftly intercepted him, summoning Doyle to block the knight’s spear with his axe-guitar. Panther disarmed the knight by swinging her whip around the his spear, pulling it away, giving Doyle a chance to attack.

“Doyle, shred him to pieces!” Joker commanded; Doyle raised his axe and swung it down several times with reckless abandon. Doyle made short work of the knight as he completely butchered him and his horse, leaving nothing but a cloud of black smoke. The other two shadows lunged at Panther, but were stopped as Doyle flung his axe at the shadows, he didn’t hit them, but it got them to retreat somewhat. Panther grabbed her gun from her waist and pulled off her mask, summoning Carmen, sending a flurry of flames and bullets at the shadows. The shadows were badly damaged, but still standing; Mona was about to attack, but the shadows were suddenly struck by a blast of lightning and holy attacks, leaving behind nothing but black smoke; Joker, Panther and Mona turned around and saw Skull leaning on Blaine with their Personas floating behind them, Joker managed to spot a feint blush on both his friends’ faces. Joker and Panther both exchanged glances, grinned and nodded, not a word was said between the two, but they immediately understood what each other were thinking.

“Hey Joker, I sense the distortion is weak over here, it must be a safe room.” Mona said as he jumped in the air, gaining Joker’s attention.

“I’m sure we could all use a break after that last fight, let’s head inside team.” Joker said, getting a collective “Okay” from his friends. The team then entered the safe room for a much needed rest.


	10. Angelfuck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Song is Angelfuck by The Misfits

_15/04/2016_

_The Metaverse_

_Kamoshida’s Palace, Shujin Academy_

Joker, Skull, Panther, Blaine and Mona were all huddled together at a table they found in their newest saferoom. The team managed to make a bit of progress in the palace, finding a map and making their way up to the second floor, and were now taking a much deserved break.

“Fu- Ow! That stings!” Skull yelled as Panther and Blaine carefully treated his wounds from their last battle with a first aid kit.

“Sorry Skull, you’re just gonna have to suck it up.” Joker said as he glanced over from across the table, quickly returning to the map he had sprawled out on the table.

“Jeez, can’t you just use your healing spells like before?” Skull muttered, trying his best to not wince from the ointment being applied to his cut.

“The reason Joker bought these was so we could conserve our magic. We’re only supposed to use it during a fight.” Blaine said as she wrapped a bandage around Skull’s leg.

“Still though, it was just a gust of wind. How’d it manage to hurt you this badly?” Panther questioned as she started pack away their supplies.

“It’s because Skull’s innately weak to wind attacks, but on the flip side, electricity doesn’t hurt him that much.” Mona explained, raising his head from the map he and Joker had been analyzing together, “So keep that in mind when fighting. Take caution when an enemy has an attack that you’re weak to.” He continued. Joker and Mona continued discussing their infiltration route while the others were busy with their own conversation. After a few more minutes of rest the team ended their break and left the safe room.

The team exited the safe room and continued following the map, carefully sneaking past guards when possible and only fighting when necessary. After a few minutes of exploring the group found themselves at a bit of a dead end. They found a door but were unable to open it, they noticed another marble goat head with a lever, but it appeared to be missing something in order for it to operate. They also found what appeared to be a library filled with rather strange books.

“Oh my God, all these books are named after the girls from our school!” Blaine yelled, browsing books from the ‘princess’ section.

“Same here. I found one for Skull and Joker too.” Mona added as he skimmed through the ‘slave’ section.

“Ugh, the ones over here are all about Kamoshida and how great is… God, this is making me sick.” Panther added as she inspected the ‘king’ section.

“Goddammit… Joker, what’s the map say?” Skull whined, Joker pulled the map out of his pocket and began scrunching his face as he analyzed it.

“We need to progress through that door we saw, but it’s not opening.” Joker said as he scratched his chin. Panther popped her head over Joker’s shoulder to glance over the map.

“Hey Joker, what if this is another puzzle, like with the bars protecting the map from earlier?”

“Hmm… Probably, but we don’t even know what we need to solve here.” Joker replied.

“What if the library is the puzzle?” Blaine chimed in, earning an interested hum from Joker.

“The library, huh… That’s not a bad suggestion. You think there’s a secret lever behind on of these books?” Joker inquired, looking over at Blaine.

“Actually, I noticed there was a book missing from each section; I wonder if we just need to find the books and place them in the open slot.” She replied.

“It’s better than anything we’ve got right now. Alright everyone, let’s split up and try to find those books.” Joker said, getting a collective nod from his team.

The group split up in search for the three books; Blaine and Skull, Panther and Mona went in pairs while Joker went alone. Thanks to his third eye ability, Joker was able to find one of the books fairly easily.

“The Book of Slaves, huh? That sounds important.” Joker said to himself as he exited the room with the book, but on his way back, he was suddenly ambushed by a guard. The guard burst into black goo, taking the form of three shadows, one of a large male angel in heavy knights armor, the other two were female angels in strange bondage gear. Joker ripped off his mask, summoning Doyle and drew his handguns. The shadows quickly blasted Joker away with bless attacks, sending Joker flying down the passage. The blessed attacks cut deep, and Doyle’s weakness to blessed attacks only amplified their damage, but Joker grit his teeth and struggled to his feet, leaning against a wall while clutching his torso, applying pressure to his wounds.

“Tch… Fuck…” Joker muttered under his heavy breathing, aiming a gun at the shadows. Joker’s hands were shaking and he couldn’t aim straight, but he desperately fired anyway, hoping that at least something might hit, but the angels just dodged out the way. Another flurry of bless attacks flew Joker’s way, but he managed to push himself off the wall, narrowly avoiding the attacks.

“Doyle, show these angel bastards **WE BITE** back!” Joker yelled while on the floor, commanding Doyle to attack, which he obeyed. Doyle raised a hand in the air, quickly bringing it down as he strummed his axe-guitar, sending waves of cursed energy at the angels, sending them all collapsing to the ground. Joker struggled back to his feet again, leaning on the wall for support. He spat out some blood as he started slowly walking over to the shadows, keeping his pistol trained on them, once Joker was close enough, he placed the barrel of his gun right up against the large angel’s forehead.

“Okay, Angelfuck… Unless you want a bullet through your brain, you’re gonna join me, you hear me?” Joker growled between panted breaths, the angel looked Joker in the eye; his face was stern, but there was a hint of fear in his eyes that Joker picked up on, causing him to smirk.

“Do you understand the severity of your actions, child?” The angel asked, glaring a hole through Joker’s skull, who just pressed the barrel down harder in response.

“Nope.” Joker deadpanned.

“T-That power of yours… it originates from our Father. Thus, is it not reasonable to repay him for the favor?”

“Wha- Uh, I dunno...?” Joker asked, confused by the shadow’s question.

“That power, vow that you will use it in the name of our Father.”

“Okay, I’ll consider it… If you join me.” Joker lied.

“Very well, I accept… Ah, I remember now. I am not a shadow that exists here, I belong in the sea of souls. My name is Archangel. With my power, you can overcome any obstacle.” The shadow said before he disappeared into Joker’s mask. After Joker acquired the new Persona and the other shadows disappeared, Joker leaned his back against the wall, slowly sliding down and letting his blood coat the it as he slid down, falling unconscious soon after.

“Did you hear that Mona? I think I heard fighting over… here…” Panther trailed off as she and Mona turned the corner, distraught by what they had discovered.

“Ren!” Panther yelled as she rushed over to Joker’s side, quickly pulling off her mask and summoning Carmen.

“C-Carmen… Please, I need you to heal him.” She begged her Persona, desperately tugging onto Joker while tears began welling down her cheeks. Carmen nodded, waving her hand, sending a wave of green energy over Joker’s body, healing his wounds. Despite the help from Carmen, Joker still remained unconscious, so Panther picked him up and carried him on her back, all the way back to the library, with Mona following closely behind.

“Hmm… Where am I?” Ren mumbled as he slowly woke up. He raised his head and found himself back in the Velvet Room. Ren quickly got up from his cell’s bed and immediately turned to face Igor and the twins.

“Stand up, inmate!” Caroline barked as she slammed her baton against the bars.

“Oh God, I’m not dead… Am I?” Ren asked, earning an amused snicker from Caroline.

“Not quite, inmate. You have your blonde friend to thank for that.” Justine replied.

“Blonde friend…? Wait, Ann?” Ren asked, receiving a nod from the twins.

“Now then, inmate, our master would like a word with you.” Said Justine.

“Greetings, Trickster. It seems you were very nearly met with an unfortunate end. How fortunate you are to have survived such an ordeal.” Igor said with a slight chuckle, “But you cannot always rely on others, there will be times where you will have to rely on your own strength, if not, you shall surely be met with ruin.” Igor said as he raised his hand off the table, a small blue flame suddenly forming in his palm, “I have another gift for you, one that may help in your rehabilitation. Use it however you see fit.” Igor continued as the flame suddenly shot from his hand towards Ren. Ren raised his arms in front of his face to guard himself from the fire, but lowered them when he noticed it floating peacefully in front of him, as if the flames wanted him to grab it. Ren cautiously reached for it, once he made contact, the flames suddenly spread around his hand, taking a very familiar shape.

“Huh… My skateboard?” Ren muttered, giving Igor an incredulous look before looking back at the board. It was the same black and red Deathwish board he had in the real world.

“Indeed. That is something of great importance to you, which is why it will help in your rehabilitation. Strength of the heart is a key aspect to rehabilitation, in your case, that board is something that can strengthen yours. Please put it to good use.” Igor said. Before Ren could respond, the alarm went off and his surroundings suddenly turned black.

In the blink of an eye, Ren suddenly found himself back in the Palace, resting his head on something very soft, Panther’s lap. He slowly tried to lift himself up, but felt her hands gently wrap around him as he did so.

“Thank God, you’re okay!” Panther cried, her arms wrapping tighter around him as he got up.

“Panther? Where are we?” Joker asked, looking around the room, noticing Skull, Blaine and Mona giving him relieved looks.

“Joker, jeez dude, don’t scare us like that, man.” Skull said as he let out a sigh.

“Yeah, and didn’t I say you should take caution when an enemy has an attack you’re weak to?” Mona added.

“Yeah, we thought you might’ve died on us.” Blaine added.

“Pfft… As if I’d die when Panther still owes me that date.” Joker teased as he flashed a grin at Panther. Panther’s cheeks went as red as her costume and the giggles from Skull and Blaine weren’t helping, so she pressed her face against Joker’s arm to hide her blushing.

“D-Don’t tease me like that, especially right after getting hurt… My heart can’t take it. This is already the second time I’ve seen you injured like this.” She cried, causing Joker to suddenly remember how Panther reacted to his passing out after her awakening, making him feel slightly guilty.

“Sorry Panther, now isn’t the time for me to be a smart ass. Thanks for saving my ass earlier by the way.” Joker said as he patted Panther’s hair with his free hand, which seemed to calm her down quite a bit.

“Just… Just promise me you won’t get into a fight without the rest of us around, okay? I don’t want to imagine what would’ve happened if Mona and I didn’t reach you in time.” She said as she began releasing her grip around Joker.

“Hey, don’t dwell on the what-if’s. What’s important is that you guys saved me, okay?”

“O-Okay.”

“Now then, where are we? This doesn’t look like the library.”

“We found a safe room nearby. We were planing on takin’ you home since you were unconscious, but since you’re up we can keep goin’.” Skull said, looking eagerly at Joker.

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Skull. Both you and Joker were hurt really badly, perhaps we should just head back today?” Mona suggested, looking over at Joker as well.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. We can still explore a bit more before we head back, so let’s head over to the library.” Joker said as he got up from his seat. He quickly looked over his body, noticing the cuts and tears from his clothes, as well as the scars from the attacks from earlier. There were several light cuts on his forearms, as well as a fairly large cut on his right bicep, he had one on the left side of his torso, another large one on his left thigh, and he could feel a small light scar on his left cheek.

“Are you sure Joker? If you’re not feeling alright we can leave. We’ve got over two weeks until the deadline.” Panther said as she walked up to Joker, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sure.” Joker straightforwardly replied as he opened the door to the safe room, “We’ve still got a ways to go, there’s no telling how much bigger this place is, so lets get as far as we can.” He said as he walked out. Panther turned her head to face the others, giving them all a worried look before she let out a soft sigh.

“I’m worried about him.”

“No kiddin’. Joker took a worse hit than I did.” Skull said as he and Blaine got up from their seats.

“Don’t worry Panther, we’ll all watch out for him.” Blaine added, giving Panther a reassuring smile.

“Thanks guys. Anyway, lets get going before Joker hurts himself again.” Panther said as she left the safe room, followed by Skull, Blaine and Mona.

The team entered the library again, Panther and Skull both produced the book their groups had found, passing them to Joker.

“Let’s see here… The Book of Kings, The Book of Princesses and The Book of Slaves. I think it’s pretty obvious which book goes where.” Joker said as he placed the books in their respective places. Once finished, a door opened up, revealing a secret room. The group entered the room and were both disgusted and horrified with what they were seeing. The room was similar to the one that Panther was captured in before, with a large St. Andrews cross in the center of the room, but what really caught the groups attention was the various paintings covering the walls, all of them young girls in very revealing outfits; most around high school age, but there were a few that looked to be in middle school as well.

“What the eff…” Skull mumbled as he looked around the room, Joker pointed at a banner above the cross.

“The Hall of Queens.” Joker read, he glanced over at Panther and Blaine who were staring at a few of the paintings.

“This… This is Akiyama senpai… And this one is of Kagawa-san.” Blaine said, placing a hand on the painting. Panther rested a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

“Do you know them, Blaine?” Joker asked, to which she nodded.

“They were members of the volleyball team last year, they were both doing really well until one day they stopped coming to training… They both ended up leaving the school shortly after too.” Blaine said.

“Uh… Hey guys, you might wanna see this.” Skull said, gesturing everyone to come to him. The others approached him and were surprised at what they found, paintings of both Ann and Shiho in skimpy swimsuits, placed down on the floor. Joker felt a pit form in his stomach as he managed to piece together what this room was for.

“Guys… This room… It’s all Kamoshida’s past victims.” Joker stated, feeling his hands starting to shake in anger.

“Wha- But Kamoshida didn’t do anything to Panther and Blaine, why do they have ones here?” Skull asked.

“They’re on the floor, meaning he was planning on putting them up soon… We’re his future victims.” Panther responded, taking a deep breath as she eyed the picture of her and her best friend.

“So Akiyama senpai and Kagawa-san… They were…” Blaine muttered as her voice cracked, “And some of these other girls… They’re… They…” Blaine trailed off as her eyes became watery. Panther wrapped her arms around her friend to calm her down, Skull and Mona also tried to comfort her while Joker used his third eye to scan the room. He spotted a table with another map, as well as a small medallion that looked like it belonged to the goat lever near the door they couldn’t open.

“Hey guys, I think I found what we need to progress,” Joker said as he lifted the map and medallion, “We can leave this place now.”

“No.” Blaine said bluntly as she ripped off her mask, summoning Judith. getting a nervous look from the three boys.

“You three go on ahead, Blaine and I have something to take care of…” Panther trailed off as she ripped off her mask to summon Carmen. The boys complied and quickly left the room. While making their way to the door they could hear the sounds of explosions and gunfire coming from the library.

“Jeez, I know I said it before, but these girls are really scary.” Skull said.

“Agreed.” Mona replied.

“Yeah, can’t say it’s unwarranted though.” Joker chimed in as he placed the medallion under the goats head and pulled the lever which unlocked the door.

“Open Sesame.” Mona said as Joker pushed the door open.

“Alright, we should wait for the girls to get here before we go…” Joker trailed off as he saw Panther and Blaine approach, both giggling to each other as they walked.

“Ah, there you two are. Did you girls settle your business?” Mona asked, receiving satisfied nods from both girls.

“Okay, let’s get going then.” Joker said as he continued walking down the path, closely followed by the rest of the team.

The team continued down the path, stumbling into an empty square room.

“Where are we now?” Skull asked. Joker pulled out his map to check.

“This room isn’t important,” Joker said as he pointed to the door ahead of them, “But there’s a large room up ahead, it looks like some kind of chapel.”

“Alright, let’s head on in!” Skull exclaimed as he rushed to the door, the others quickly followed. Once they entered, they found a massive room with multiple rows of seats, a long red rug, red flowers and candles along the walls and a large statue of Kamoshida.

“Wow, this room is huge… Yet there are no guards? That just seems suspicious.” Mona said, Skull just continued walking ahead, towards the statue.

“But the treasure’s up ahead, right? We don’t got a choice but to keep goin’.” He said.

“I guess that’s true… But we need to make sure we’re ready for whatever might be ahead. What do you think Joker?” Mona said as he turned to face Joker, “Should we continue onward?”

“Yeah, let’s do it.” Joker enthusiastically said as he walked up beside Skull. While walking, the scenery briefly changed to the Shujin gymnasium before turning back into the chapel.

“Wait, was that… The gym?” Panther asked in surprise.

“I think I get it, the gym’s some kinda holy place for Kamoshida. He’s a god in there.” Skull said as he approached the statue.

“Ugh, I can’t believe he can think like that… Especially after everything he’s done.” Blaine said as she clenched her fists.

“God, that bastard makes me so freakin’ sick! Just you wait, Kamoshida…!” Skull added.

Suddenly, the group was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice, causing everyone to back away from the statue and movie into a defensive position.

“I see… So you’re the ones who defiled our King’s great library. It seems my waiting here has paid off…” The voice rang out, suddenly, a guard in golden armor spawned in a burst of black goo, right in front of the team. “Just as your ape friend said, this place is a holy ground for our great King Kamoshida. It is preposterous for miscreants like yourselves to come waltzing in like this.” The guard continued before bursting into more black goo, taking the form of the Archangel Joker fought previously.

“Tch, more of these damn angels? Well at least I know how to deal with them now.” Joker mumbled to himself as he reached for his mask.

“You will pay foolishly for defying King Kamoshida… With your lives” The shadow yelled as he blasted beams of holy energy at the team. Joker and the others dive behind the benches for cover, avoiding the attack. Joker got up to his feet to summon his Persona, but was blasted by more bless attacks, fortunately, he was able to duck out of the way again, narrowly avoiding the attack.

“Crap, this one’s a lot faster than the one I fought earlier, I need to think of a plan…” Joker thought to himself; suddenly, his hand was enveloped in blue flames, quickly dissipating and revealing his skateboard.

“My board…” Joker muttered as his eyes widened at his board, he then smirked as an idea came to mind. Joker used the pews as cover as he sneaked off to the side of the chapel where the Archangel couldn’t see. Once in the clear, Joker took a run up and threw down his board, quickly jumping on and riding it around, back into the direction of the fight. Joker noticed that he was moving way faster than he used to back in the real world, he smirked at all the new possibilities this would give him. He eyed the Archangel who was currently distracted by Joker’s teammates, seeing an opening, he rushed the shadow, brandishing his machete, and ollied into the air and slashed at the shadow’s side.

“Argh, you shall pay for that, you brat!” The shadow barked. The Archangel fired more blasts of holy energy, but Joker proved to be too fast with his skateboard, bobbing and weaving through the attacks. Joker made a sharp turn and ollied onto one of the pews, quickly pulling off his mask while he grinded on the back of the bench, summoning his own Archangel.

“Archangel, Dazzler!” Joker commanded. His Archangel obeyed, pointing his sword at the other angel, casting a spell on him, making him dizzy. The enemy Archangel fell to the ground, wobbling as he tried to stand.

“Someone finish him off! Joker yelled. Skull and Panther both got out from behind their cover, summoning their Personas and showered the shadow with fire and lightning, knocking the shadow back down. With the shadow weakened, the team rushed in for an all out attack, quickly defeating the shadow. The group all let out a relieved sigh after the fight.

“Yo, Joker! Where’d you get that skateboard from?” Skull asked.

“It uh… Just kinda appeared.” Joker shrugged as his board was engulfed by flames and disappeared.

“Damn dude, you must really love skatin’ if you can even do it in here.”

“Heh, I guess. Anyway, I’m tired, let’s head back for now.” Joker said, receiving a nod of agreement from his team.

The team retraced their steps through the castle, carefully sneaking past guards to avoid unnecessary fights. They eventually made it back to the entrance and returned to the real world.

“Ugh, I feel exhausted. I need sweets to recharge.” Ann said as she stretched out her back.

“Agreed. Wanna go grab some crêpe before we head home, Ann?” Shiho suggested, leaning her head on Ann’s shoulder.

“Oh, that sounds great! What about you guys, wanna join us? We know this really good crepe shop in Central Street, they totally stuff their crêpe too!” Ann excitedly exclaimed.

“Eh, I don’t got anythin’ else to do today, why not.” Ryuji replied.

“Are crêpes the same thing as pancakes?” Ren asked, receiving a look of disbelief from Ann.

“Ren… Don’t tell me you’ve never had a crêpe before.”

“Uh… I plead the fifth.”

“Okay that’s it, you’re definitely coming with!” Ann exclaimed as she grabbed Ren’s hand, pulling him towards the train station, followed by a giggling Ryuji and Shiho.

“Wha- Ren, slow down, you’re shaking your bag too much!” Morgana whined from inside Ren’s bag.

“It’s not me, Ann’s dragging me.” Ren replied. The group then spent the rest of their day enjoying their crêpes before heading home for the day.


	11. Crimson Ghost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Song is Crimson Ghost by The Misfits

_28/04/2016_

_Tokyo, Japan_

_Shujin Academy, Aoyama-Itchome_

Over the past two weeks Ren and his friends have been progressing through Kamoshida’s Palace, slowly getting stronger and more experienced with both their Personas and their fighting skills. They eventually made it to the treasure room and according to their feline navigator, in order to take the treasure, they needed to send a calling card for the treasure to appear in the Palace. The team was now currently on the Shujin rooftop, faced with their most difficult task yet: Deciding on a suitable name for their team.

“How about… The Diamonds?” Ann suggested.

“Nah, that sounds like a little league baseball team. What about The Warriors?” Ryuji replied.

“Denied. Why not The Shadows?” Shiho chimed in.

“Ooh, that one’s not bad!” Ann said as she looked over at Ren who was currently drawing in his note pad, “What do you think, Ren?”

“Eh.” He shrugged as he continued drawing.

“I’ve got one!” Morgana spoke up, “Let’s go with the Phantom Thieves of Hearts!”

“Huh, Phantom Thieves?” Ryuji questioned.

“Those who covertly sneak in and stylishly steal treasure, quite gentlemanly, don’t you think?” Morgana said haughtily, getting excited looks from everyone on the roof… except for one.

“Mona, I dress like a punk rock serial killer, Ryuji looks like a thug, Shiho’s a magician and Ann is… well, you know…” Ren said as he stopped drawing, “There’s nothing gentlemanly about us. If anything, I’d say we’re more a group of misfits than anything… misfits… Misfits, that’s it!” Ren exclaimed as he snapped his fingers and stood up from his seat, “I’ve got the perfect name for us!”

“Ooh, what is it?” Ann asked, Ren just smirked at her.

“It’s a surprise. Wait till I finish the calling card, then you’ll see.”

“Aw, dude, for real? I wanted to do the calling card.” Ryuji whined.

“Sorry Ryuji, but as team leader, it should fall on me to decide on the calling card.”

“Wha- Who made you the leader?”

“You guys all voted for me last week, remember?”

“Oh yeah… I forgot.”

“Anyway, I’ll have everything done by tomorrow, so we can send the card on the 30th of April, got it?”

“Cutting it a bit close, don’t you think, Ren?” Shiho asked, Ren just smirked at her.

“What can I say, it’s fun living on the edge, but anyway, I’ve got to get cardboard and spray paint today. Later guys.” Ren said as he grabbed his stuff and left with Morgana.

Ren took the train to Shibuya and was now in Central Street, checking the different stores if they sold spray paint. He eventually found a crafts shop near the movie theatre. Ren bought a couple cans in various colors, a pack of plastic gloves and masks as well as a box cutter.

“Thank you for your patronage.” The clerk behind the register said with a bow.

“It’s nothing, really. Oh, um… do you guys have any cardboard boxes you aren’t using?” Ren asked.

“Oh yes, we’ve got some in the back. Would you like them, sir?”

“Please and thank you.” Ren said. The clerk stepped to the back and brought out about a dozen folded cardboard boxes and handed them to Ren.

“Here you go. We were gonna throw them out anyway, so you can take them for free.”

“Thank you very much!” Ren thanked the clerk, giving them a bow before leaving for Leblanc.

“What do you need all those boxes for?” Morgana asked, popping his head out of Ren’s bag.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Was all Ren said before walking down to the subway.

Ren arrived back home in Yongen and went straight up to the attic. He placed the cardboard at his workbench, took out his notepad and pencils and plugged in his earphones.

_‘Now Playing: Breaking The Law - Judas Priest'  
_

Ren began bobbing his head and hummed along to the music as he began sketching on the cardboard while using his notepad drawings as reference. He continued drawing well into the evening, at one point Morgana tried to force him to sleep, Ren of course ignored his cat’s request and continued working. Eventually, Ren stopped and began using the box cutter, cutting away pieces of carboard. Ren pushed back his chair, stretched his back and cracked his knuckles, as well as removing his earphones.

“What time is it?” He asked as he let out a yawn and rubbed at his eyes. He turned to find Morgana passed out on his bed, causing him to let out a chuckle. Ren pulled out his phone to check.

“Huh, 23:56. It’s not as late as I thought. I guess I can wrap this up now.” He said as he began packing away his supplies. Ren took one last look at his work and gave a satisfied smirk before getting changed, set his alarm and headed to bed.

_29/04/2016_

_Tokyo, Japan_

_Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya_

Ren woke up to the sound of his alarm and hopped out of bed. He didn’t get quite enough sleep, but he didn’t care, he could just nap in class if he needed. Ren slipped on his cracked glasses, slapped on one of his band shirts, his black hoodie, blazer and pants as well as his black Vans sneakers. Ren grabbed his bag, shoved both his board and Morgana into it, much to his annoyance, and picked up all his cardboard cutouts and left for the station. The ride to school was a little tougher than usual, since he had to carry a dozen pieces of cardboard, but he managed. As Ren was walking to school he spotted Ann and Shiho walking together.

“Morning Goldilocks, Shiho. You two excited for tomorrow?” Ren asked as he walked up next to them. Ann beamed at him as he approached.

“Morning Ren, uh… what’s with all the cardboard?”

“It’s for the calling card, gonna need your help later tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“Remember when you asked if I could show you how to spray paint?”

“Wait, are you spray painting the calling card?” Shiho asked, raising an eyebrow at Ren.

“Maybe. Anyway, you in, Ann?”

“Uh… Okay?”

“Cool, we’ll meet up here at school, around 21:00. Remember to come in all black.”

“Wait, why so late? And why at school?”

“You’ll see. I’m gonna head to the roof and store this cardboard somewhere, we’ll need it for this evening.”

“Ren, just what are you planning?”

“The calling card, of course. Oh crap, I also need to photocopy a bunch of shit.” Ren said as he ran ahead, leaving Ann and Shiho a mix of both confused and concerned. Shiho sighed as she shook her head.

“Jeez… I hope he doesn’t do anything too rash.” Shiho said, Ann nodded in response.

“Yeah, I probably should go with him though, so I can make sure he doesn’t do anything too reckless.” Ann said. The two girls then entered the school building and made their way to their classes.

While Ann was walking, she bumped into the last person she wanted to see that day, Kamoshida. The man looked down at Ann with a vile grin, his eyes were staring at her intensely, as if he were undressing her in his mind. Ann felt violated just by his presence alone. Before Ann could try to escape, Kamoshida placed a hand on her shoulder. Normally, Ann would’ve begrudgingly allowed it, but after the time she had spent with her friends, she felt much more confident and swatted his hand away, glaring at him intently.

“I’d prefer if you kept your hands to yourself, _asshole._ ” Ann said, saying that last word in English. Kamoshida glowered at her, Ann grinned in a manner similar to Ren’s, and it seemed to make Kamoshida even angrier.

“Tch, you can act tough all you want, but your black haired friend will be expelled by next week, then there’ll be no one to protect you.” He said, flashing a sleazily prideful smirk.

“One: Who said I was acting? Two: Ren’s not leaving this school, that’d be you. Three: Stop talking to me. My least favorite sound is the sound of you talking” Ann stated as she counted off her fingers, her smirk widening as Kamoshida got visibly more frustrated.

“Oh, just you wait till Monday you slut. Both you and Suzui will be groveling in front of me.” He growled, Ann just raised another two fingers.

“Four: That’s never gonna happen, mop head. Five: We’re gonna make you pay for every life you’ve ruined. Bye now, don’t follow me.” Ann said as she pushed past Kamoshida, she turned her head, flashing him a mischievous smile before walking off towards her classroom. She heard Kamoshida walk off, mumbling profanities at her as he left, causing Ann to giggle.

“Nice. You’re almost better at shit-talking than I am.” Came a familiar voice, Ann turned her head as she saw Ren standing by the staircase, apparently listening in on her previous conversation.

“Ren? You were watching and you didn’t step in?” Ann asked, giving Ren an incredulous look, he just smirked.

“Didn’t need to. You really put him in his place, nice job.” Ren said, giving her a thumbs up. Ann pouted a bit, until a smile broke out on her face.

“T-Thanks, I guess. Although, I mostly learnt all that from you.” Ann bashfully replied.

“What can I say, I’m an amazing teacher.” Ren joked, shrugging his arms as he winked at Ann, earning a giggle out of her. The two teens then headed to their class for the day, getting ready for a day full of learning, except for Ren, he would most likely be sleeping for the whole day. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, word had gotten out that Ren would be expelled so of course the Shujin rumor mill was abuzz, but other than that the day was fairly ordinary. School had ended for the day and Ren and his friends split up, Ann went home to prepare for later in the evening while Ren had recently found out that convenience stores in Japan had printers, so of course he went to one to prepare for the calling card before heading back to Leblanc.

Once Ren got back he began getting ready for later. He swapped his plaid pants for black jeans and removed his blazer but kept the shoes and hoodie, He also packed the spray paint and other supplies into his bag.

“Hey Ren, what’s all this for?” Morgana asked as he watched Ren pack.

“Calling card. We’re sending it tomorrow, so I need to get it ready now.” Ren replied.

“Are you actually going to spray paint the school?”

“Yep.”

“Oh jeez… Fine, I’m coming with you, so I can keep you out of trouble.”

“I was planning on bringing you anyway; I need you to unlock the school door for me.”

“What!?”

“You’re gonna sneak in and open it from the inside.”

“Does the school not have an alarm?”

“Nope, I already checked.”

“Wow, you’ve really thought this out, huh?”

“Of course. My expulsion is on the line here.” Ren said as he finished packing. With Ren now having a bit of free time on his hands he grabbed his PS2 controller and turned on the console, he smiled as the iconic PlayStation startup noise played, followed by the _Neversoft_ logo and the sound of _Motörhead’s Ace of Spades_ and the intro to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3. Ren spent the next few hours playing videogames until it was time to go.

It was now 20:30 and it was getting dark outside, Sojiro had already closed the café. Ren grabbed his stuff and Morgana and left the store with the spare keys Sojiro gave him.

“Sorry for sneaking out, Sojiro.” Ren said to himself. He made his way to the subway and boarded the train to Shibuya and then to Aoyama-Itchome. While walking to school Ren spotted Ann, but she was not alone, Shiho and Ryuji were by her side, all in black clothing, waiting near the entrance.

“Hey guys…” Ren said, raising an eyebrow, “I wasn’t expecting you two to be here as well.”

“I came to make sure you two don’t get into trouble.” Shiho replied.

“And I came because Shiho asked me.” Ryuji added.

“Fair enough. Welp, let’s head on in.” Ren said. He and Ryuji helped the girls over the fence before the two boys climbed in after them.

“Alright Mona, you’re up.” Ren said, letting the cat out the bag. Morgana nodded before scampering off, after a couple of minutes, they saw him through the glass door with a key in his mouth.

“Where’d he get a key from?” Ryuji asked.

“Snagged it from the school janitor a while ago. I left it up on the roof with my cardboard.” Ren replied with a smirk, Ryuji gave him a confused stare.

“If you had a key, why not keep it with you?”

“Didn’t want to chance it. I’m on high alert here, so if the school wanted to search my stuff and they found I had a key, well… lets just say the outcome would’ve been unfavorable.” Ren replied as Morgana opened the front door, the cat gave a haughty laugh as the others entered.

“Good work, Morgana.” Ren said as he bent down to pet the cat.

“Wha- hey, I told you to stop tha… **_prrrrrr prrrrrr_**.” Morgana trailed off as he was swept up in the pleasure of being petted. Ren stopped and reached for his bag, taking out the masks, gloves and print outs.

“Here, put these on.” Ren said as he handed the masks and gloves around, “So here’s the plan; Ann and I are gonna head to the roof to fetch the cutouts, Ryuji and Shiho, you two are gonna stick these printouts to any surface you can find and Morgana, I want you to wait outside and keep watch, if anyone comes to the school, you’re gonna rush in to give us a heads up, got it?” Ren explained, getting a nod from everyone.

Ryuji and Shiho went off, taping Ren’s calling cards to whatever they found.

“You know, Ren-Ren’s really goin’ all out with this, I didn’t even read everything on the card.” Ryuji said, as he brought the calling card to his face.

“Let’s see here… ‘Sir Suguru Kamoshida, the lecherous sinner of lust. You are a scum of a human being, forcing your own twisted desires on the students of this school, knowing full well they cannot oppose you. That ends now, for we will take your distorted desires and make you confess your sins of your own volition. This shall be completed by tomorrow, so enjoy your last moments as a free man. From, The Crimson Ghosts.’ Damn…” Ryuji said, completely in awe of what Ren had written.

“Crimson Ghosts, huh? Not a bad name. I still liked my idea though.” Shiho said with a giggle, “The design is pretty cool though. I like the black and red colors he picked.”

“Yeah, and this skull on the back looks cool too. Looks super familiar though, any idea where?”

“Wasn’t that skull on one of Ren’s shirts we saw him wearing? I think it’s from a band.”

“Oh yeah, I remember now. What were they called again? The Misfits?”

“Doesn’t matter, let’s just get these calling cards up before anyone finds us here.” Shiho said as she continued taping the cards to the wall.

Elsewhere Ann and Ren were returning from the roof with the cardboard cutouts, setting them down near the school’s bulletin board. Ren taped the cardboard to the wall, shook a can of spray paint and took out his phone to play some music.

_‘Now Playing: 1979 – The Smashing Pumpkins’_

“You sure it’s a good idea to be playing music?” Ann asked, Ren just grinned at her.

“I can’t work without music. Anyway, lets get going.” Ren said as he began spraying, Ann watched as Ren worked, feeling a little giddy as she saw the cute little smile on his face before he covered it with his face mask. Ann picked up a piece of cardboard and followed Ren’s example, taping it to the wall and shook up a spray can. The two teens began working, the sound of music and the hiss from the cans echoing throughout the hall. Ann glanced over at Ren again, taking a deep breath.

 _“Hey Ren.”_ Ann said in English, surprising Ren a little.

_“Yeah?”_

_“Mind if I play a song next?”_

_“Sure, go right ahead.”_ Ren said. After his song ended Ann pulled out her phone and began playing some music. The song started off with the melodic sound of a trumpet, piano and the strumming of a bass. The music took Ren off guard, not expecting Ann to be a fan of jazz. The lyrics began and Ren’s eyes widened as he realized what song this was.

_They're writing songs of love_

_But not for me_

_A lucky star's above_

_But not for me_

_“Wasn’t expecting you to be a fan of Chet Baker.”_ Ren commented.

 _“I could say the same to you. I mostly only hear you listening to rock music.”_ Ann replied.

_“Yeah. I actually found out about this song from a book I’ve been reading.”_

_“A book…? That book wouldn’t be called ‘Going the Distance’ would it?”_ Ann questioned, raising an eyebrow at Ren.

 _“Actually yeah, you read it?”_ He replied, Ann gasped.

 _“Read it? I loved it! It’s like, my favorite book ever!”_ She exclaimed.

_“I’ve really been enjoying it too. Although I gotta say, its kinda scary how similar my current situation is to the main character’s.”_

_“You know, you might have a point. Apart from boxing, you’re both kinda similar; both falsely accused of a crime, both having to move away from home… both extremely cute.”_ Ann said, giving Ren a cheeky grin.

 _“C-Cute?”_ Ren mumbled, Ann giggled at how flustered her comment made him.

 _“Hmm, very…”_ She continued with her flirting as she moved over to him.

 _“Uh… I guess.”_ Ren bashfully replied, scratching the back of his head. The song ended and was followed up by Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra.

 _“You know Ren, after reading that book, I’ve always wanted a romance like that.”_ She said as she began leaning on Ren’s shoulder.

 _“Uh…”_ Ren mumbled, trying his best to keep his composure.

_“And well, a big, strong boxer is great and all… but I think a cute, bad boy skater is even better…”_

_“…”_ Ren didn’t respond, he just stared as his cheeks got increasingly more and more red, Ann giggled.

_“Especially when they get really flustered…”_

_“Ann… Please, my heart can’t handle this.”_

_“Good, now you know how I feel whenever you flirt with me. Consider this payback.”_

_“Ann wait, we haven’t even gone out on a date yet.”_

_“I’m pretty sure this can be considered a date, Ren.”_

_“Wait… really?”_

_“Yep!”_ Ann said as she grabbed Ren’s hands, pulling him away from his painting and into an empty section of the hallway. She slowly began dancing, guiding Ren’s flustered flat feet through the music.

_“You know Ren, I… I really like you.”_

_“Uh… Where’s all this coming from? I mean, this is kinda sudden.”_

_“I just needed to say it. There’s a chance we mess up with Kamoshida and you end up getting expelled, so I really just needed to get this off my chest.”_ Ann said as she rested her head against Ren’s chest. Ren exhaled before he spoke up.

_“Ann… If it wasn’t already obvious enough, I really like you too. I just kinda wanted to wait until after we finish this whole palace thing.”_

_“I get you, but remember what they said in the book?”_

_“What? That it was okay to start a relationship out of order?”_

_“Yeah, that.”_

_“I guess, but didn’t they like… have sex before they were even a couple?”_

_“You know what I mean.”_ She giggled again, before looking up into Ren’s calming grey eyes. _“So, Ren… In the off chance we do fail to take the treasure… do you… wanna start out of order with me?”_

 _“Ann… I’d love to.”_ Ren said as he gently placed a hand on Ann’s cheek. The current song ended and was followed by some more jazz, this time it was Put Your Head On My Shoulder by Paul Anka. The timing couldn’t be more perfect, Ren looked Ann in her piercing blue eyes, the moonlight peering through the windows seemed to make them glisten more than ever. Ren took a short breath before leaning in, pressing his lips against hers, they were so soft, Ren’s mind went blank, everything in his surroundings all seemed to disappear, all he was focused on was the girl in front of him. Ren could feel the heat radiating off Ann’s cheeks and the soft breaths of air she took as she separated from the kiss before going in for another. Ren couldn’t find the words to describe how he was feeling, because despite all his confidence and bravado, this was Ren’s first kiss, a completely new experience for him, and it made him nervous. He didn’t hate it though, in fact, he loved it, and he loved Ann too. Ren’s mind suddenly went into overdrive, having a thousand thoughts a second; like what would happen between them after Kamoshida is dealt with, will they stay together after his probation, would he end up marrying Ann someday, would they maybe start a family. Ren’s felt like his brain was going to short circuit, but was suddenly brought back by the sound of a camera clicking. Both Ren and Ann broke off from the kiss to find the source of the noise and went pale as they saw who it was. Shiho and Ryuji were watching them, both with massive grins plastered over their faces and they were both holding their phones up, taking pictures. The two teens suddenly broke away from their embrace, looking down at the ground to hide their blush.

“Oh no, please continue. Just pretend we aren’t here.” Shiho said cheerfully, as she continued taking pictures.

“S-Shiho!” Ann cried.

“Sorry Blondie, I couldn’t help myself. You two are just so cute together. By the way Ryuji, you owe me ¥5000.” Shiho said as she reached her palm out to Ryuji, he just grumbled before he begrudgingly handed her a ¥5000 note.

“Really guys, you were betting on us?” Ren groaned, feeling slightly disappointed in his friend.

“Chill dude, it’s all in good fun.” Ryuji replied, raising his hands defensively, still maintaining his grin. Ren gave a disbelieving look at his friends before he snorted, then letting out a loud hearty chuckle, getting a confused look from his friends.

“Are you okay, Ren?” Ann asked.

“Yep,” Ren said before leaning in to whisper into Ann’s ear, “Just thinking of how we’ll get them back when it's their turn.” Ren said, causing Ann to smirk.

“Ooh, that sounds fun. Count me in.” Ann whispered back, giggling in Ren’s ear. Ren winked at Ann before walking back to his wall.

“Anyway, we’ve still got work to do. I take it you two finished posting those calling cards around?” Ren asked, Ryuji and Shiho nodded in response.

“Good, now grab a piece of cardboard and a can of spray paint. I wanna get this done before midnight.” Ren said, both Ryuji and Shiho complied. The team then spent the next hour and a bit finishing up their stencil art, all of them looking quite proud at the end result. Ren had sprayed a massive picture of a the Skull from the calling card, in black and red, along with the name ‘Crimson Ghosts’ above it. Ren also added an old Seattle phrase just below it, ‘Ave Rats’. Ann, Shiho and Ryuji had also just about finished theirs, it was a large mural of everyone’s Personas, all lined up on the wall, facing off Kamoshida dressed in his underwear.

“Damn Ren-Ren, this shit was really fun. I wanna do it again sometime.” Ryuji said, tapping Ren on the shoulder.

“If we beat Kamoshida, then sure. It’s been so long since I last tagged something I forgot how fun it could be.” Ren replied.

“Ooh, can we take a picture with all of us standing with our Personas?” Ann asked.

“But what about Morgana?” Shiho responded.

“Eh, he’ll live.” Ann replied with a slight giggle.

“Actually, we should wait until tomorrow, we don’t want to have anything incriminating us.” Ren said as he turned to face Shiho and Ryuji, “I need you two to delete those pictures you took of Ann and I earlier as well. Those can be used as evidence against us as if they manage to get leaked.”

“What? But I wont let anyone else them, you can trust me!” Shiho exclaimed, holding her phone close to her chest. Ren just sighed.

“Fiiiine, but make absolutely sure nobody but us sees it… also send it me, please.” Ren said, getting a light jab in the arm from Ann, to which Ren just giggled.

The group finished packing up, Ren and the others carried all the cardboard up to the roof and made a small bonfire with an empty metal drum, putting it out once everything was burnt to ashes,

“And the evidence has been disposed, good job team. Can’t wait to see how everyone reacts to this.” Ren said, a small grin forming on his face.

“Hell yeah, Kamoshida’s gonna have a freaking heart attack once he sees all this!” Ryuji exclaimed.

“Isn’t that bad though, since we need to steal it?” Shiho asked, playfully jabbing Ryuji.

“You know what I mean.” He replied. The gang eventually wrapped up, collecting all their supplies and leaving the building. Ren had to make one quick stop to the announcement room for some “urgent business” he had to attend to. Once he returned, he locked the door and he and Ryuji helped the girls over the fence again and let Morgana hop in his bag before they left for the station.

“It’s about 23:30 right now, yeah? What time do the trains stop?” Ren asked.

“The latest ones leave at around 00:00. We’ve still got time.” Shiho replied.

“Good, we still have some time then…” Ren said, smirking as he eyed Ann.

“Time for wha-!” Ann tried to say before she and Ren locked lips again.

“That.” Ren said proudly, Ann just stared at him, her cheeks beginning to redden.

“Wha… what was that for!?” She pouted.

“Payback.” Ren replied as he took her hand, walking her to the station. “C’mon, where’d all that confidence from earlier go?”

“The-That was because we were alone!” She said, turning around to see Ryuji and Shiho snickering behind them, as well as a deject looking Morgana from Ren’s bag. Despite her embarrassment, she was still incredibly happy. Ann moved closer to Ren, hugging his arm.

“So… does this mean we’re a full on couple now?”

“I’d say so, yes.” Ren said as they walked back, hand in hand.

Ren and Morgana arrived back at Leblanc a little past midnight, Ren quietly unlocked the door and went upstairs, changing out of his clothes and hopped into bed. As Ren was getting ready to sleep, he noticed Morgana looking very depressed.

“Hey, you okay buddy?”

“No.”

“Okay, you wanna talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“You sure?”

“You… You kissed lady Ann.” Morgana mumbled, burying his face into the blanket. Ren scratched his head, trying to cheer the cat up, which seemed to do the trick.

“Sorry Mona. I hope you’re not too upset by that.”

“I’m a little mad, but I’ll be fine. Just know that if you do anything to upset lady Ann, I’ll… I’ll… claw your eyes out.”

“Heh, no need to worry about that, Mona. I’ll be sure to treat her right.”

“You better. Now go to bed!” He replied haughtily before closing his eyes.

“Goodnight.” Ren said as he began to doze off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- I've mentioned this before, but please go read GtD if you haven't already. It's really good.  
> \- Ave Rat: A name given to homeless youth along University way in Seattle Washington. A close knit group of survivors bound together by blood and tears, usually left their homes due to abuse and or neglect. They formed tight circles to withstand prejudice and harassment. I really liked the idea of including Ave Rats to the team logo. I know the team members aren't homeless, but the general theme of a group of outcasts coming together and forming a tight bond is something that definitely applies to the them, as well as showing a bit of Ren's Seattle roots.


	12. For Whom The Bell Tolls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Song is For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica

_30/04/2016_

_Tokyo, Japan_

Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya

It was a cool Saturday morning in Tokyo, Ren woke up in his cozy little attic bedroom. He didn’t get much sleep, but he didn’t really care, he was still riding the high from his kiss with Ann last night. Ren eagerly hopped out of bed and got dressed. Ren’s usual black hoodie still had some paint stains from the previous night, so he decided to ditch it in favor of his white Thrasher hoodie instead. Ren gathered his things and was about to leave when Sojiro entered the café.

“Ah, you’re up early.” Sojiro said simply as he went behind the bar.

“Yep, got a busy day today.” Ren said brightly, sending a slight smirk Sojiro’s way.

“Huh, you’re awfully cheerful this morning. You get a girlfriend or something?” Sojiro said, returning the smirk.

“A man never kisses and tells.” Ren shrugged, sending a soft chuckle Sojiro’s way.

Sojiro stared blankly at Ren for a moment before his lips curled into a knowing smirk.

“Hoo boy. Let me guess, it’s the blonde one… Ann-chan, right?”

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Heh, alright then. Just don’t do anything to break her heart okay, otherwise you might regret it.” Sojiro stated, giving Ren a wary look.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Anyway, bye.” Ren replied, waving at Sojiro before leaving for the station.

Ren’s trip from Yongen to Shibuya and then to Aoyama went by in a flash. As Ren walked up to the school, he could hear the chaos going on inside the building, causing Ren to smirk as he walked. Before Ren could enter the building, he was tapped on the shoulder by another student. Ren turned around and was surprised to see who it was, Mishima.

“Mishima? When did you get back?”

“Just today, actually.”

“Well it’s nice to see you back man. What were you up to these past two weeks, anyway?”

“Uh… I was going through therapy.”

“I see, that’s good to hear. I hope things have been going well for you.”

“I’ve been doing better, but that’s not what’s important right now, you’re getting expelled soon, right!?”

“It’s possible, I’m not too worried about it though.”

“What? How are you so calm about this!?” Mishima exclaimed, Ren just smirked as he guided his classmate through the school’s entrance.

“This is why.” Ren said as he pointed towards the mural, he and his friends made the previous night. Mishima’s eyes widened as he gasped, staring at the calling card alongside Ren and the other students. Ren’s smile widened as he saw how his calling card had set the whole school abuzz. Students were taking photos of the murals, chatting loudly with their friends, and admiring Ren and his friends’ handiwork with the calling cards, he also saw groups of teachers trying to calm down the crowds. Ren spotted his friends standing against a nearby wall watching the chaos unfold. He and Mishima walked up to them; Ren flashing a mischievous grin, to which his three friends returned. He walked to Ann’s side and wrapped his arm over her shoulders, she beamed up at him as he did so, taking his hand with her own as she nuzzled up closer to her new boyfriend, feeling mildly embarrassed about showing this much PDA, but was too happy to care. Mishima eyed the group, feeling a bit out of place amongst them. He looked down at the ground, trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

“Hey Mishima, glad to see you’re finally back at school.” Shiho said, giving Mishima a kind smile. Mishima looked at her before turning away, feeling guilty that one of the people he hurt was still being kind to him. He attempted to walk away but was stopped as Ren grabbed him by the arm.

“You alright?” Ren asked, giving Mishima a concerned look, causing Mishima to feel even more guilt.

“N-no…” Mishima replied.

“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?” Shiho asked, matching Ren’s look of concern.

“It’s… It’s not that… It’s just… After everything I did, why are you guys still so nice to me? You’ve got every right to be mad at me, but…” Mishima muttered before being interrupted by Shiho.

“Mishima, look at me,” She said firmly as she placed both hands on Mishima’s shoulders, giving him a sympathetic yet stern look. “You need to stop beating yourself up about what happened. Yes, it was difficult for me, but I don’t blame you for it, you were just as much a victim as I was. What matters is that we’re all safe now, so try and cheer up.” She reassured the boy, lightly tapping his shoulders to calm him down.

“Suzui…” Mishima trailed off, feeling his eyes begin to water. Ren tapped Mishima’s back as well in an attempt to relieve him.

“I already told you on the roof that I don’t care about my record, so you shouldn’t either. It’s all water under the bridge, alright.” Ren said, earning a nod from Mishima.

“Alright… So uh, did you guys do all this?” He asked as he pointed to the mural and the calling cards plastered over all the walls.

“Depends; can you keep a secret?”

“Ren, are you sure it’s a good idea to tell people that aren’t involved?” Ann asked anxiously, tightening her grasp on Ren’s hand.

“Chill out, Ann, I trust him. Besides, he’s got as much involvement in this as the rest of us.” Ren replied. Ann looked at Ren before glancing over Mishima, she sighed and nodded her head.

“Alright, if you’re sure.” Ann replied.

“So Mishima, you think you can keep this on the down low?” Ren asked.

“Yes, of course!” Mishima excitedly replied, balling both fists and raising them to his chest as he looked up at Ren in awe.

“Good, and it looks like the school’s enjoying the spectacle as well. I think you all deserve a pat on the back for your first successful tagging session.” Ren said, glancing over at the students still huddled up by the wall.

“Hell yeah! The whole school’s gonna know how shitty Kamoshida is!” Ryuji yelled, earning a jab to the gut from Shiho.

“Ow! What the hell, Shiho!?”

“Quiet down, we don’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves.” Shiho whispered, letting out a sigh as she eyed some nearby teachers. Shiho managed to quiet down Ryuji just in time as Kamoshida’s voice bellowed throughout the hallway.

“What the hell happened here!? Who did this!?” Kamoshida barked at a group of students, scaring them away. “Was it you!? Or maybe it was you!?” He continued shouting at students, raving like a lunatic. Ren pulled out his phone to record the scene, chuckling to himself as the mop headed bastard tore the calling cards off the wall. While Kamoshida was swarming around the notice board, he noticed the rumblings of the other students.

“Is this some kind of prank?”

“Would Kamoshida really do this?”

“What’re the Crimson Ghosts?”

Kamoshida turned around, glaring at the gossiping students talking behind his back. As he was about to speak, he noticed Ren standing with his friends, recording the incident. He scowled as he approached the raven-haired teen, seemingly getting angrier as he saw Ren’s arm around Ann.

“You… You did this, didn’t you!” The teacher yelled, earning the attention of a few students and teachers. Ren smirked, slipping his phone back in his pocket.

“My, whatever could you mean?” Ren replied, feigning ignorance.

“Don’t play dumb with me, brat! Do you want to be expelled!?”

“I thought I was already getting expelled. Can’t expel a guy twice, you know.”

“Tch… Don’t try and be a smart ass here, punk!”

“Who said I was trying, being an asshole is my default setting.” Ren replied, earning a chuckle out of his friends and some onlookers. Enraged, Kamoshida grabbed Ren by the neck of his hoodie, lifting him in the air with one hand, shocking many of the students and some of the teachers.

“YOU SHOULD LEARN TO SHUT UP, BRAT!” Kamoshida barked.

“AND YOU NEED TO CUT YOUR FUCKING HAIR!” Ren yelled back, literally spitting in the teacher’s face, not backing down despite being held by the neck. Ryuji, Ann, Shiho and Mishima all jumped to Ren’s defense, trying to get Kamoshida to let go, after a bit of a struggle, the teacher dropped the boy to the ground. Ren rubbed his neck, gasping heavily due to his breathing being momentarily restricted, Ann and Shiho stood at his side, making sure he wasn’t hurt.

“BACK OFF, YA BASTARD!” Ryuji barked, acting as a human shield, protecting his friend from Kamoshida.

“Tch…” Kamoshida growled as he wiped Ren’s spit from his face, glaring at the teens. Before Kamoshida could say anything more, Ms. Kawakami butted in, attempting to stop the situation from escalating.

“That’s enough, Mr. Kamoshida. Please help the other teachers clean up, I need to get my students to their class.” She said sternly as she glared at the towering PE teacher, not flinching at all when he returned the stern glare back at her. The two teachers stood still for a moment, the tension between them rising. Kamoshida puffed out his chest before walking off, tearing down every calling card he passed. Kawakami let out a relieved sigh before walking up to Ren, checking if he was okay.

“Are you alright Amamiya-kun?” She asked.

“Never better. I think pissing off Kamoshida is my new favorite hobby.” Ren replied, flashing his teacher a smirk, to which she just sighed.

“I thought I told you to steer clear of Kamoshida?” She asked, crossing her arms, and giving the boy a disapproving look.

“I know, but don’t worry, Kamoshida will be dealt with soon enough.” Ren replied. Ms. Kawakami gave Ren an incredulous stare before speaking up.

“Dealt with…? Wait, you didn’t have anything to do with all this, did you?”

“Nope… Anyway, class starts in…” Ren trailed off as he checked his wrist, he wasn’t wearing a watch, but he knew the school’s alarm was just about to go off, Ren looked up and began counting down.

“Three… Two… One…” He said, letting his lips curl into a mischievous grin as the school’s “bell” went off.

_You're never gonna get me_

_You're never gonna get me_

_You're never gonna get me_

_I’m the Crimson Ghost_

Ms. Kawakami, Ren’s friends and all the other students in the hall looked around, confused at the loud thrashy rock music that was now playing. Ren started bobbing his head and hummed along to the music as he walked to his class, Ms. Kawakami and Ren’s friends gave him an incredulous stare as he walked off. The school seemed to fall into more chaos as the music echoed throughout the school. Ann and the others caught up to Ren, tapping him on his shoulder to get his attention.

“Ren, what’s with the music? When did you even get the chance to do that?” Ann questioned; Ren smirked at her.

“Remember that “urgent business” I had to take care of last night?” He replied.

“Dude, for real!?” Ryuji chimed in, walking up to Ren’s side.

“What, don’t like it?” Ren asked.

“Of course, I do, this shit’s insane! What song even is this anyway?”

“Crimson Ghost by The Misfits. Not bad, huh?”

“Yeah, but are you sure we didn’t go a little overboard with all of this?” Ann asked.

“Hey if we’re gonna take down Kamoshida, we might as well make a show out of it, right Mona?” Ren asked, shaking his bag lightly to get Morgana’s attention. He popped his head out of Ren’s bag.

“Ugh, let’s just head to class. The calling card should have worked, so the Treasure should appear now, so let’s get this over with.” Morgana said bitterly.

“Are you alright Morgana? You sound upset.” Ann asked.

“I’m fine.” Morgana replied. Ann decided not to press him for answers and went to her classroom alongside Ren and Mishima.

“Do you guys usually talk to your cat?” Mishima asked, Ren just smiled and nodded at the bewildered looking Mishima before heading into class.

The rest of the day went by in a flash, not much learning was done since the events of this morning were taking most people’s attention away from their actual schoolwork. After school had ended, Ren and his friends made their way to the roof for one final meeting before they took the treasure. Ren looked over his friends, a mix of anxiety and excitement filled the atmosphere.

“Alright team, this is it, the final hurdle.” He stated, standing at the end of the desks while his friends looked up at him, listening attentively.

“Once we take the treasure, Kamoshida will have a change of heart, but he may possibly die as well. Nobodies thinking of bailing out on this, right?” Ren asked.

“Of course not. My mind is set.” Ann replied, balling her fists up to her chest.

“Hell no!” Ryuji added, pumping a fist in the air, and flashing a grin.

“We’ve come too far to just quit now, there’s no way I’m gonna chicken out!” Shiho said, matching Ryuji’s excitement.

“Agreed. Besides, if we were to quit now, I wouldn’t be able to get the treasure… and Ren would get expelled too.” Morgana added, hopping out of Ren’s bag and onto the table.

“Then it’s settled. Alrighty then, Crimson Ghosts… let’s rock!” Ren said as he pumped a fist in the air, to which his friends mimicked. Ren then walked towards the door, followed by the others, making their way to entrance.

The team hid in the alleyway near the school’s entrance, waiting till most students left the area before entering the Palace. Once the area was cleared, Ren pulled out his phone, activating the Meta-Nav app and entered the Metaverse, followed by the rest of the Ghosts.

“So, uh… Do we just go in and steal that weird cloudy thing we saw at the end, right?” Skull asked.

“Yes, that ‘cloudy thing’ should have already formed. We don’t know what it will look like in there, but we’ll find out soon enough.” Mona answered as he scampered off towards the castle, “Since Kamoshida knows we’re coming, the security is going to be pretty tight, so take caution as we traverse the palace, got it.” Mona continued, earning a collective nod from his human companions.

“Give me a moment, guys. I just need a minute to myself.” Joker said, walking over to the Velvet Room door that was visible only to him.

“Huh, you gonna off stare into space again like last time?” Skull asked, curiously looking at Joker, who smiled and shrugged in response.

“Think of it as… meditation. I need to be on my A game before we take the Treasure.”

“Oh, that’s not a bad idea. Maybe I should try doin’ that too.”

“I doubt you have the concentration and patience needed to do that, Skull.” Mona joked, getting an annoyed growl from the blonde teen. The two began to bicker while Panther and Blaine checked through their equipment. Joker smirked as he looked at his friends before turning to face Justine, who was quietly waiting by the Velvet door.

“Greetings, inmate.” She said as she looked up from her little clipboard.

“Hey Justine, you seem happy today. What’s the occasion?” Joker replied, noticing the slight smirk she had.

“Yes, as your warden, it pleases me to see you working so hard towards your rehabilitation; that is the reason for my current cheerfulness.”

“Huh, I wasn’t expecting you to be that happy about it, can’t say I dislike it though, it’s much more pleasant than Caroline.” Joker said, smirking back at Justine who giggled at his remark.

“As amusing as it is watching you and my sister quarrel over such trivial matters, inmate, I ask that you behave yourself for my master’s sake.”

“Well since you asked so nicely, sure.”

“You have my thanks, inmate. Now then, I assume you would like to speak with my master, or perhaps you wish to make use of the guillotine?”

“Guillotine, please. Just need to beef up my team before we head in.”

“Very well, you may enter.” Justine said as she stepped to the side, allowing the door to open. Ren walked through the glowing blue door, followed by Justine.

Ren blinked as he stepped through the door, upon opening his eyes he found himself back in the Velvet Room.

“Welcome back, Trickster.” Igor greeted in his unsettling deep voice.

“Yo.” Ren waved a hand as he nonchalantly replied, earning a sharp glare from Caroline. Ren quickly cleared his throat before speaking again, remembering what Justine asked of him.

“Uh, hello to you too, Igor and Caroline. Good to see you’re both doing well.” Ren said with a bow.

“Wha-? Alright, who are you and what have you done with MY inmate!” Caroline yelled as she smacked the cell bars with her baton, startling Ren.

“Jesus, I’m still the same inmate as before, nothing has changed.” He replied.

“Huh? Then why are you being so respectful all of a sudden?” She questioned, raising an eyebrow at Ren.

“I took your advice and learned some manners.” Ren casually responded.

“Oh… Really?”

“Uh… yeah…?”

“Hmm… Very well, you may speak with my master now.”

“Actually, I needed to speak with you...”

“M-Me!?” Caroline flusterdly muttered out, interrupting Ren.

“…and Justine.” Ren finished.

“Oh, I see…” Caroline responded, looking almost dejected at Ren’s response. Ren raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Justine, he noticed she was grinning until she covered her mouth behind her clipboard.

“So then, inmate, you would like to use the guillotine, correct?” Justine asked, still hiding her expression.

“Please.” Ren responded.

“Very well.” Justine said as she and her sister went over to the guillotine.

Ren eyed the contraption and began thinking of which of his Personas he should fuse. Over the past two weeks he had managed to get a handful of Personas; apart from Doyle, he got himself a Succubus, an Incubus, an Archangel, Berith, Kelpie, Jack-o’-Lantern, Agathion and Silky, now he needed to decide which one to fuse. After careful consideration, he had fused his Berith and Silky into a little snowman looking being with an adorable blue hat, known as Jack Frost.

“Hee Ho, I’m Jack Frost, nice to meet you, mister. Let’s have lots of fun together, hee ho.” He said cheerfully.

“Heh, Ice to meet you too.” Ren joked, smirking at the little Jack Frost.

“Another bad joke and I’ll pound the hee ho outta you!” Jack Frost replied in the same cheerful tone as he did after his fusion, he was then absorbed into Ren’s mask. Needless to say, Ren was taken aback by the Persona’s remark, staring worriedly at the spot Jack Frost was at before disappearing.

“Uh…” Ren mumbled.

“Jack Frost huh? He’s a strong one, but he tends to mouth off a lot.” Caroline said, grabbing Ren’s attention.

“He’s not gonna try and kill me, right?”

“No, but Black Frost might.”

“Black Frost?” Ren questioned, looking worriedly at Caroline.

“A Persona for another time. Do you have anything else you want to execute, inmate?”

“Uh, gimme a sec…” Ren trailed off as he thought of who to fuse next. He decided upon Jack-o’-Lantern and Kelpie, fusing them into a small gremlin like person with a fringe named Obariyon. Ren considered executing Doyle again, thinking it would yield him another powerful Persona, but that same gut feeling he had weeks ago came back again, he swore he could faintly hear Doyle’s voice again, telling him not to execute him. Ren complied, he then executed his Incubus and Agathion, fusing them into a tortoise with a long snake tail, known as Genbu.

“Alright, I think I’m good to go. Thanks for the help, girls.” Ren said, flashing the twins a smirk.

“D-Don’t think that pretty smile of yours is gonna work on me! Get back to your rehabilitation, inmate!” Caroline yelled, earning a puzzled look from Ren.

“My, Caroline, you seem to be quite excited, I wonder what the reason may be.” Justine said, giving Ren a knowing smile.

“S-Shut it, Justine! Just let the inmate back out, I need to lie down.” Caroline muttered as she walked off into one of the other cells in the room.

“Very well.” Justine said as she looked Ren over, giving him an amused grin. “Thank you for your cooperation today, inmate. Seeing my sister so flustered is quite amusing.”

“I thought you wanted me to behave around your sister because it annoys Igor.”

“Oh, my master truly doesn’t mind your bickering, this was purely for my own enjoyment.”

“Uh… Okay?”

“Now then, you may now leave the Velvet Room.” Justine said, followed by the alarm. Ren closed his eyes as the bell began ringing, waiting to be returned to the Palace.

Joker opened his eyes to find Skull looking directly at him, holding a marker in his right hand. Thinking on his feet, Joker quickly grabbed Skull’s right bicep with both hands, swiftly pulling Skull’s arm over his shoulder as he rotated his body and adjusted his feet in one fluid motion, bending forward and throwing Skull over his shoulder and onto the ground. The girls gasped while Mona just chuckled at what they had just witnessed.

“Bwah…! Shit dude… that hurt.” Skull muttered as he rubbed his back.

“Sorry dude, but it’s your fault for sneaking up on a guy while he’s meditating.” Joker replied, shrugging before helping Skull back to his feet.

“Damn dude, where’d you learn that shit?”

“Seattle. My sister actually showed me, it was part of her Judo classes.”

“Your sister does judo!?”

“Yeah, she wanted to learn after I beat the crap out of some creep trying to cop a feel on the train.” Joker replied proudly.

“Damn, you really gotta teach me that.”

“After we deal with Kamoshida’s treasure,” Joker said as he turned towards the castle, “Speaking of which…” He trailed off as he climbed the wooden scaffolding that lead to the second floor of the foyer room. Joker looked down at his teammates, flashing them a wide grin before moving his hockey mask over his face and continued up the scaffold, quickly trailed by the others.

The Ghosts followed Joker’s lead through the castle, using every shortcut they had found throughout their infiltration, avoided every guard they could and eventually reached the end, the throne room.

“Huh, that’s weird… the place is empty.” Joker said as he carefully scanned the room.

“The throne room is probably undermanned right now because Kamoshida assigned his guards elsewhere,” Mona replied, “Either way, we win as long as we can steal the Treasure! Let’s keep going!” Mona continued. Joker and his team quickly ran pass the throne in the center of the room, dashed up the stairs and entered the door at the top that lead to the treasure.

“Aww yeeeaaaah!” Mona said as he gazed upon the newly formed treasure that took the shape of a massive crown, “The Treasure has appeared!”

“Man, it’s huge!” Skull muttered.

“What do you think!? It’s just as I said! Now we can steal it!” Mona excitedly exclaimed as he jumped up and down, “Ahh… this shine brings tears to my eyes…” He trailed off, completely mesmerized by the crown.

“…It kinda pisses me off.” Panther said, looking rather repulsed by the crown.

“Agreed. It’s so gaudy, it hurts.” Blaine added as she clenched her fists to her chest.

“Yeah, why is it so flashy? Isn’t this Kamoshida’s desires?” Panther asked.

“T-Treasure…” Mona mumbled as he approached the crown, his eyes seemingly changed into glistening stars the closer he got to it.

“Uh, the cat’s actin’ awfully excited.” Skull said as he worriedly looked over Mona.

“Eh, at least he’s not grumpy like he was at school anymore.” Joker shrugged as he watched Mona carefully study the Treasure before pouncing on it.

“Why was he so upset by the way?” Panther asked.

“I think I have an idea, but I’d rather not say. It’s something we should discuss in private.” Joker replied.

 ** _“Meeeeeooooow… Mrrrrrooooow… Prrrrrr...”_** Mona satisfyingly moaned as he nuzzled up against the crown, earning confused looks from the four teens.

“Uh, Mona, that isn’t catnip…” Blaine said in an attempt to bring the ‘definitely-not-a-cat’ out of his trance.

 ** _“…Meow, meow! Mewwwww!”_** Mona continued.

“Alright, that’s enough, you stupid cat!” Skull said sternly, which seemed to work as Mona looked up from the crown and hastily jumped back down, clearing his throat before speaking.

“Oh, um, yeah… Forgive me for displaying such an insolent sight in front of a lady…” He timidly said as he looked at Ann.

“You were completely out of character too. What was that about?” Ann questioned.

“I couldn’t stop it either… To think I would be drawn to human desires this much…” Mona replied, his eyes suddenly widened as he came to an epiphany, “Hey, doesn’t that prove I’m human!?”

“I don’t know dude, you seemed pretty cat-like a moment ago.” Joker said, grinning as he teased Mona.

“I’m **NOT** a cat!” Mona yelled, “A-Anyway, you guys need to carry it!”

“Jeez, all you do is bark orders…” Skull moaned as he grabbed one side of the crown.

“Maybe he’s actually a dog?” Joker said as he grabbed the spot opposite Skull, grinning at his blonde friend.

“That’s an M. Night Shyamalan plot-twist if I’ve ever seen one.” Skull replied, returning the grin, “Still, this is way easier than I thought. I thought for sure there’d be some insane trap or something.” Skull continued.

“Please don’t jinx us, Skull.” Joker mumbled. Panther and Blaine approached them and grabbed hold of the crown, helping the boys carry it out.

“Enough talking, you two. Let’s get this thing out of here, ASAP.” Panther said, earning a nod from the two boys.

“Wow, even with the four of us, it’s still pretty heavy.” Blaine mumbled as the group started moving, with Mona following from behind.

“Hmm, to think it’d go so well; I even found four Persona-users in the process… My judgment was correct. I made the right choice in making a deal with you! Nyahaha!” Mona stated as he watched the others carry away the Treasure.

The team carefully carried the Treasure out of the room and made it around halfway through the throne room before a familiar voice echoed through the room, stopping everyone in their tracks.

“Go, go! Let’s go! Ka-mo-shida!” The voice rang, Joker noticed Panther tense up slightly as they noticed whose voice it was – her. Before the Ghosts could act, they heard a loud grunt, and the smack of a volleyball cracking through the air as the Treasure was knocked out of their hands.

“Uwa-!” Skull yelped in surprise. Joker looked up, noticing King Kamoshida gracefully spin in the air as he landed on the raised flooring that held the throne, right behind Joker’s team. Kamoshida raised a hand, pulling his crown towards him, making the crown shrink as he held it in his hand. Kamoshida glared at Joker and his friends, flashing them a sinister smirk.

“I won’t let anyone take this! This proves I am the king of this castle – it is the core of this world.” He barked. Blaine took off her hat and pulled out her rifle, getting ready to fire, but stopped as she saw someone rush to Kamoshida’s side, clinging their arms around him and nuzzling up against him, Blaine gasped as she realized who the person was, Ann.

“Wha? Ann!?” Blaine muttered, looking over at her teammates for an explanation.

“Relax Blaine, that ain’t the real Panther.” Skull stated as he reached for his newly bought baseball bat that he hammered nails into.

“It’s Kamoshida’s cognition of Panther, it’s basically how he sees her.” Joker added, drawing both his pistols, aiming them directly at Kamoshida’s head.

“Ugh, that rat bastard. I thought I already killed that fake… Guess I’m just gonna have to do it again.” Panther said sternly as she grabbed her whip and her SMG, readying herself for the inevitable fight against Kamoshida.

“Oh, it seems my princess over here has caught your attention…” Kamoshida said, his wicked smile still plastered across his face, “Understandable, she is _my_ princess after all… But she’s not my only one, hehehe…” Kamoshida chuckled before he turned to the side, whistling to someone unseen by Joker and his team. Suddenly, another girl popped out from behind one of the pillars, rushing to Kamoshida’s side, hugging his arm tightly. Joker kept his focus on Kamoshida, but he could hear the angry grunts from Skull and the horrified gasps from Panther and Shiho. Ren kept his guns directed at Kamoshida, but glanced to his side and noticed the girl at Kamoshida’s side was Shiho, dressed in a fluffy white bikini with matching wristbands and collar, along with a white rabbit tail and bunny ears, with hot pink high heels.

“You called, my king?” The Shiho doppelganger said in a sultry voice.

“Ah, such an obedient slave. Why can’t the rest of you be like my two girls here?” Kamoshida said as he began liking his lips, staring down at the girls’ bodies.

“Tch… So, this is how that bastard sees us.” Blaine grumbled as she glared at Kamoshida.

“Yo, pervert, cut the shit and hand over that crown!” Skull yelled, pointing his bat at the king.

“Are you deaf, Sakamoto!? I’m not giving this to anyone!” Kamoshida yelled, glaring at the blonde boy.

“How’s about this; I have my girls put on a show for you, then you all piss off, deal?” Kamoshida said, as a devious grin formed across his face.

“A show?” Joker inquired cautiously, not taking his sights off from the king.

“Girls…” Kamoshida said, getting the fake Ann and Shiho to release his arms.

“Anything for our king.” The doppelgangers said in unison, before quickly removing their bikini tops and went in for an embrace, leaving kisses on each other’s faces and exposed skin.

“So, do we have a deal?” Kamoshida asked.

Joker, Skull and Mona went red-faced as they turned away from the two cognitions, Panther and Blaine on the other hand felt nothing but disgust as the man that they despised continued to toy with them.

“Fuck off, Kamoshida! No deal!” Panther yelled as she aimed her gun at the king, quickly matched by Blaine and her rifle.

“Yeah, no deal! Now give us that damned crown!” Blaine added, pulling back the bolt of her Ruger M77.

“Tch, very well, just remember that I gave you a chance to leave. I’ll just have to dispose of you myself. Right here, right now.” Kamoshida stated, clicking his fingers to get the girls to stop.

“That’s our line, you sexually-harassin’ d-bag!” Skull barked, trying his best to not peek at the exposed chests of the cognitive Shiho and Ann.

“Hmm, what a selfish misunderstanding…”

“How is it a misunderstanding!? You were doing all these terrible things that you kept secret from others!” Panther shouted.

“The people around me were the ones that kept it secret. Adults who want to share in my accomplishments, students who have the drive to become winners… They all willingly protect me so that we all may profit from it.” Kamoshida stated.

“Profit!?” Skull muttered, giving the king a quizzical look.

“There are too many imbeciles who don’t understand that! Including naïve brats like you and that boy who tried to kill himself!” Kamoshida replied.

“Mishima…” Joker mumbled, clenching his fists tightly around his guns, “True, he was an idiot for letting you manipulate him, trying to commit suicide… But if you think we’re just gonna let you get away with this, then you’re an even bigger idiot! No matter how foolish someone might be, they don’t need you controlling their own damn lives!” Joker barked, earning an annoyed glare from Kamoshida.

“Drop the attitude, you worthless punk! There is no wrong in using my gifts for my gain!”

“There is when you use it to hurt other people, you prick!” Joker yelled, feeling his anger rising the longer he let Kamoshida speak. “Enough talking, give us the treasure, now, or we take it by force!” He continued. Kamoshida gave a sinister cackle as red energy started forming around him.

“Fine, try and take it then, I dare you! I am a demon that rules this world!” Kamoshida bellowed as he placed the crown on his head, suddenly, his body began to grow and distort into a massive demon-like monster with a long tongue and an oversized head with strange chameleon-like eyes and curled up horns on his head. He had four arms, one holding a wine glass, one with a golden knife, one with a golden fork and one with a large riding crop, he also had a large golden trophy sitting in front of him, filled with lifeless bodies of women.

“Wh-What the hell!?” Skull nervously muttered as he stared at the hulking monstrosity that became of Kamoshida.

 ** _“Hahahaha! Gyahahahaha!”_** Kamoshida laughed as he scooped the cognitive Ann and Shiho up into his wine glass. **_“I’m allowed to do whatever the hell I want!”_** He bellowed.

“Sorry, your majesty, but your reign is about to come to an end!” Joker mocked the king, opening fire with his pistols as he darted around the room. The bullets hit Kamoshida in the chest, but if it hurt him, he did not show it, practically shrugging the bullets off. Skull and Mona tore off their masks, summoning Captain Kidd and Zorro.

“Light ‘em up, Captain!”

“Show him your might, Zorro!”

They shouted, allowing their Personas to let loose with a barrage of electric and wind attacks. Panther and Blaine joined in on the assault, unloading round after round at Kamoshida. Despite the onslaught of attacks, Kamoshida looked none the worse for wear as he continued shrugging off all their attacks.

“Dammit, we ain’t doin’ shit to him!” Skull yelled as he and Mona retreaded from Kamoshida; the king took note of them running away and swung his knife at them, managing to slash Skull’s back with his golden blade thanks to his long range.

“Argh, crap! That hurts, you jackass!” Skull cried as he tried to scamper away, adrenaline keeping him from collapsing from the pain. Kamoshida licked the blood off his knife with his repulsively long tongue before going in for another attack. He swung his blade at Skull again, but before it could make contact with Skull’s exposed back, Joker bolted through at high speed on his skateboard, narrowly avoiding the knife while scooping Skull up and dropping him off behind a pillar, leaving behind a small trail of blue flames caused by Joker’s wheels.

“Skull!” Joker worriedly yelled as he looked over the cut on his friend’s back.

“Relax dude, I’m fine… my back just stings a little.” Skull replied, grinning at Joker in an attempt to reassure him of his condition.

“A “little” my ass! This cut is deep as hell, and I can even see bone! Mona, get over here and heal Skull, I’m going back in!” Joker barked, throwing down his board and riding back into battle, skillfully maneuvering around Kamoshida’s knife and riding crop attacks. Skull watched on from behind the pillar while Mona healed him with Zorro.

“Dammit… Joker and the girls aren’t hurting him at all.” Skull said before biting the sleave of his leather jacket as his wounds closed up, leaving behind a large scar.

“Urgh, jeez… that stings.”

“I healed you up, but the flesh is still raw, so its gonna sting pretty badly for a while.” Mona said as he finished tending to Skull’s wound.

“Damn, I can’t imagine how painful it must’ve been for Joker when you ‘n Panther found him half dead in that hallway.” Skull said, slowly getting up from the ground.

“Huh, I never really thought about that, he usually shrugs it off and continues as if nothing happened.”

“No kiddin’, Joker’s a lot tougher than he looks.”

“Perhaps we should ask him about it sometime, but for right now, we need to find a way to stop Kamoshida.”

“Yeah, I’ll help the others, you sit tight and think up a plan!” Skull yelled as he jumped back into the fray, leaving a bewildered Mona behind the pillar.

“Skull, wait! Your wound is still not completely healed… aaaaaand he’s not listening. Ugh, guess I should come up with a plan while I’m here.” Mona said as he began brainstorming some ideas, letting the rest of the Ghosts fend off Kamoshida.

Back on the battlefield, Kamoshida had summoned a horde of Shujin’s volleyball team members to pelt the Ghosts with volleyballs. The volleyballs flew through the like cannonballs, and they hit like it too, launching Panther back several feet as she was struck.

“Panther!” Joker and Blaine yelled as they saw their blonde partner struggle back to her feet. The volleyball team went in for another barrage, sending their balls flying towards a downed Panther. Quick on his toes, Joker rode over to Panther, pulling off his mask and summoned Jack Frost.

“Jack Frost, give us some cover!” Joker yelled, Jack Frost spun around and gave him a thumbs up.

“Hee to the ho, you got it, bro!” The icy Persona said, creating a thick wall of ice, shielding Panther and himself from the incoming salvo of volleyballs. The ice shield cracked slightly under the pressure but remained standing. Blaine gracefully maneuvered around some stray volleyballs, quickly rolling behind the ice shield. Skull darted towards the shield as well, whacking away any loose ball that came at him with his bat, sending one straight into Kamoshida’s eye.

 ** _“Ahhhrgh, you rotten punks! You’ll pay for that!”_** Kamoshida roared as he stabbed his fork into his trophy, impaling one of the bodies and gulping it down in one go, suddenly, all the damage, albeit very little, they had done to Kamoshida was now all healed.

“Aw crap, I was hoping that was a homerun, turns out it was just a foul ball.” Joker said as he peeked from behind the ice wall, Skull gave him a baffled look before joining him behind the wall.

“Dude, jokes now? Are you for real!?” Skull asked, Joker just shrugged and smirked at him.

“Just trying to lighten the mood…” He chuckled, “But anyway, are you okay, Panther? That last hit looked like it hurt.” Ren said, extending a hand to help her up.

“I’m fine, just a little winded.” Panther replied as she took Joker’s hand, getting back on her feet.

“Good, because I don’t think this ice wall can take much more abuse. We need to find a way to deal with Kamoshida, and fast!” Joker said sternly, getting a nod from his team.

“Joker!” Mona yelped as he scampered behind the ice wall.

“You know, I’m not sure all of standing behind this flimsy ice wall is such a good idea. One good hit and we’re all exposed.” Joker stated.

“Forget about that, I think I found a way to beat Kamoshida!” Mona yelled, earning a collective sigh of relief from the group of teens.

“Alright Mona, spill the beans!” Joker shouted enthusiastically.

“We go for his crown! If we can knock it off his head, it should weaken him!”

“The crown, huh? Okay, how we doin’ this?” Skull asked.

“You guys keep doing what you’re doing, I’ll climb up to the mezzanine and stealthily grab the crown while he’s distracted.” Mona explained.

“The what?” Joker asked, raising an eyebrow.

“The balcony to our sides!” Mona yelled, pointing at the second floor.

“Why not just call it a balcony then!?”

“Because it’s not the right word!”

“Boys!” Panther yelled, getting Joker and Mona’s attention, “Argue semantics later, let’s deal with Kamoshida first!” She continued, earning a nod from her boyfriend and his cat. Before Joker and his team could initiate their plan, the ice wall shattered as dozens of volleyballs travelling at high velocity smashed straight through it, knocking everyone but Mona several feet back.

“Crap! Mona, hurry!” Joker yelled as he quickly got to his feet, tearing off his mask and summoning his Persona, “Doyle, you got anything to slow this bastard down!?” He yelled, getting a nod from the skull-faced brute.

 ** _“Sukunda!”_** Doyle bellowed in his deep voice as he strummed on his guitar, sending loud reverberations throughout the air. Seeing a chance to sneak off, Mona quickly pounced up the pillar and onto the second floor, leaning against the railing, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

 ** _“Tch, the hell are you peasants doing causing such a racket in my castle!?”_** Kamoshida shouted as he smacked his knife and fork against the ground. Joker eyed the king and noticed his movements began to slow down slightly, he smirked at Doyle before his Persona disappeared into his mask.

“What’s wrong, Kamoshida? Not a fan of rock music?” Joker goaded, kicking up his skateboard and pretended to play it like a guitar. Joker’s taunts seemed to have worked, Kamoshida was now angrily bashing his weapons to the ground, ordering more of his slaves to pelt him with volleyballs. Doyle’s spell seemed to have worked on the slaves as well because their barrage of volleyballs was travelling much slower than before, allowing Joker and the Ghosts to dodge them with relative ease. Seeing his chance, Mona hopped onto the railing, launching himself at the distracted Kamoshida. Time seemed move in slow motion as Mona flew through the air; his paws were so close to the crown, he could almost feel its hard golden frame, he was literal inches away from touching it, but he suddenly stopped midair, feeling a pair of hands grasping his tail.

 ** _“Yeeeeeeoooooowwww!”_** Mona yelped as gravity brought him down, his weight beginning to strain his tail. Mona tilted his head to see what was going on and was surprised to see both Ann and Shiho’s doppelgangers holding onto his tail from inside the massive wine glass.

“Nuh-ah-ah.” The cognitive Shiho said, wagging a finger at Mona.

“Only our king is allowed to touch his crown.” Cognitive Ann added, “Why not join us in the wine, little kitty…” She continued as the two cognitive girls yanked Mona up into the glass, submerging him in the wine.

“Oh fuck, Mona!” Joker yelled worriedly, he quickly withdrew his pistols and started blasting at the glass in an attempt to save his friend.

 ** _“Hey, watch where you’re aiming that thing! I don’t want you damaging the goods!”_** Kamoshida yelled as he shielded the glass with his golden knife.

“Fuck you, asshole! If you hurt my friend, I’m gonna make you regret it!” Joker roared as he emptied both magazines.

 ** _“Tch, have you forgotten who you’re talking to!? I’m the king!”_** Kamoshida exclaimed as he violently hit the ground with his riding crop, **_“How dare you keep defying me… Looks like I gotta bring out the big guns!”_**

“Big guns?” Blaine nervously asked. They were having a hard-enough time fighting as is, the last thing they needed was Kamoshida having more fire power.

 ** _“Slave! Bring over you-know-what!”_** Kamoshida ordered, to which his slaves quickly scampered off, **_“Time for my killshot, from when I active and rockin’ it! Killshot… As in: I’ll make the kill!”_**

“That doesn’t sound good…” Panther muttered.

 ** _“What’s the holdup? Where’s my damn ball!?”_** Kamoshida continued to yell. After a short moment, a boy ran up to Kamoshida carrying a volleyball. Joker stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed who it was.

“I’m so sorry, King Kamoshida! I-I have it right here!” The boy said as he raised the volleyball for Kamoshida to take.

**_“Too slow Mishima! Worthless chump!”_ **

“Mishima!?” Joker blurted as he stared at the boy before shaking his head, “No, that’s not the real one, just another cognition.”

“Joker!” Skull worriedly yelled, getting Joker’s attention, “This next one’s gonna be a big one!”

“Like I don’t know that! Quick, take cover!” Joker commanded his team, quickly backing away from the fight.

 ** _“Alright, Mishima – now pass it to me! Don’t tell me you can’t even do something as simple as that!’_** The king barked, Mishima quickly followed and tossed the ball into the air. Kamoshida swiftly followed the ball, leaping into the air to spike it. Kamoshida’s spike was so powerful that the sound of his hand making contact with the ball sent thunderous reverberations echoing throughout the room. Joker and the others were attempting to flee, but Joker stopped as he noticed Blaine was missing, he turned around to see Blaine standing her ground, meeting the ball head on.

“Judith, Rakukaja!” Blaine yelled as she summoned her Persona. Judith quickly appeared behind her and raised her sword, sending a wave of energy over her, hardening her skin, and increasing her resilience. Blaine instinctively clasped her hands together and received Kamoshida’s spike. The pain was immense, the velocity of the ball created a small shockwave, nearly causing Blaine’s knees to buckle, but she held strong as the ball continued to spin in her palms, drilling into her skin.

“Joker!” Blaine cried, “Remember that volleyball game against Kamoshida a few weeks ago!? Consider this a rematch!” Blaine yelled as she summoned the last of her strength and sent the ball flying high into the air. Joker watched as his friend fell to her knees, putting every last bit of energy she had into that move. Joker smirked as he darted towards her, pulling off his mask and summoning Doyle again.

“Doyle, gimme a fastball!” He commanded as he jumped into the air, Doyle did not respond, he simply whacked at his master with the broad side of his axe, sending Joker flying towards the ball. Skull and Panther watched on as their leader flung through the air, Skull smirked as he tore off his mask, summoning his Persona.

“Captain Kidd, Tarukaja on Joker!” Skull yelled, his Persona complied and pointed his arm cannon at Joker, sending a wave of energy over to him. Joker suddenly felt his muscles harden, he quickly glanced back at his friends before reaching the ball, noticing that Skull had summoned his Persona and was probably the one responsible for the buff. Joker’s grin widened before turning back to face the ball, and with his extra burst of strength, he slammed his hand against the ball with a force that could rivel Kamoshida himself. Joker’s spike flew like a bullet, directly at Kamoshida’s crown, successfully knocking it off his head.

 ** _“Nooo! My… My precious…”_** Kamoshida cried as he desperately flailed his arms and fell over, dropping his weapons and his wine glass. Mona quickly crawled out, coughing up alcohol as he tried to breath in some air.

“Mona!” Panther yelled as she ran over to help the cat. Before she could reach him the cognitive version of herself and Shiho stood up and grabbed Mona.

“Stop! We won’t allow you to hurt our king!” The Shiho clone said as held Mona around the neck, keeping the cat as a hostage. Before the Shiho copy could open her mouth again, a gunshot rang through the hall and a bullet cleanly passed between the cognition’s eyes. Panther turned her head to see Blaine on the ground, holding up her sniper with a smile on her face.

“I was getting really damn tired of hearing that fake speak!” She said before pulling back the bolt of her sniper and fired at the other cognition. Both doppelgangers vanished into black goo and Mona’s body fell to the floor, but Panther managed to catch him just in time. Joker and Skull slowly approached the downed Kamoshida, machete and bat drawn, ready for whatever other tricks the mop haired king had in store for them.

 ** _“…Ack! No way… My crown, I’m nothing without my crown.”_** Kamoshida cried, Joker tilted his mask up and flashed Skull a smirk, to which his blonde friend gleefully returned.

“Even with the crown, you were nothin’! All you ever did was abuse people!” Skull berated the king as he pointed his bat at him.

 ** _“Tch… You think you can get away with doing such a thing? Do you realize who I am!? I. AM. SUGURU. KAMOSHIDA. Don’t you punks get it!?”_** He cried.

“So what? You want a fucking medal or something?” Joker taunted, spinning his blade in his hand.

**_“Huh!? Like I keep saying – I AM KAMOSHIDA! I’m the king!”_ **

“I always saw you as a condescending hotshot, but right now… You’re just a pathetic loser.” Skull remarked, Panther and Blaine walked up next to the boys, drawing their weapons as well.

“We came all this way to steal that thing! Just hand it over already!” Panther yelled.

**_“Silence, I won’t let the likes of you have my crown!”_ **

“You still have the energy to say crap like that!? God, you’re infuriating!” Blaine exclaimed, glaring daggers at the king.

“Okay… Crimson Ghosts, it’s time for an all-out attack!” Joker said as he twirled his blade one last time before charging at Kamoshida, hacking and slashing with reckless abandon. The rest of the team – apart from a drunk Mona – joined in on the assault. Joker thought he fought fiercely, but that was until he saw Skull, Panther and Blaine unleash all their collective fury on Kamoshida. The many months of torment, abuse and harassment the man had inflicted upon these three was now being dished out to him tenfold. Joker would have felt sorry for the man if he didn’t know the full story that led up to this moment. Joker and his friends took a step back and each of them pulled off their masks to summon their Persona. The teens had their Personas deliver one final blow; a mix of electricity, fire, curse and bless attacks had struck Kamoshida, knocking him over onto his back before his monstrous body dissolved into black goo, leaving behind the same half naked Kamoshida from before. The teens cheered as they finally managed to defeat the perverted king.

Joker walked over to the crown, he noticed that it shrank down to a normal size. Before he could grab it, Kamoshida darted behind him and leapt into a dive roll, grabbing the crown, and retreating to the nearby balcony.

“Nngh…” Kamoshida worriedly mumbled, looking over the edge and back at the teens.

“What’s wrong, coach? Not running away?” Panther jeered, a frightening glare forming on her face, “C’mon, run away. You’re supposed to be the athlete, aren’t you? Or is it because you know we’ll just catch you in the end.”

“It’s always been like this… all those goddamn hyenas forcing their expectations on me! I’m doing this all for them! What’s wrong with me wanting a reward for my efforts!?”

“God, and here I thought you couldn’t be any more pathetic; now you’re makin’ excuses?” Skull reprimanded the king, “We’ll do something about that distorted heart of yours.”

“Hrrgh…” Kamoshida mumbled.

“You scared, Kamoshida? Good. Now you know how all of us felt. The torment you put us and so many other students through!” Panther’s yelling was punctuated by her cracking her whip in the air. Joker slowly stepped forward, smirking at the king with every step, causing Kamoshida to shiver in place.

“Kamoshida, turn around and tell me what you see?” Ren said, to which the king complied. He turned around and looked over the balcony, his stomach dropped as he realized how high up the throne room was.

“Pretty high, huh?” Joker stated, “That’s the same view Mishima saw a few weeks ago. I was lucky enough to talk him out of it, but the same can’t be said for many of your previous victims.”

“Huh?” Kamoshida mumbled.

“Remember Akiyama senpai and Kagawa-san?” Blaine asked as she tightly clenched her knuckles, “I-I did some digging a while ago… trying to find your previous victims… turns out… they’re… they’re not…” Blaine stuttered as she tried to speak, but stopped as her voice began cracking and her eyes became watery. Skull notice and put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a nod and a reassuring smile, which seemed to have calmed her down slightly. She sniffled a bit before hugging Skull. “Thanks for that, Ryuji.” She said, which caused Skull to blush.

“D-Don’t mention it…” Skull muttered as he nervously scratched the back of his head. Blaine let go of Skull and turned to face Kamoshida, scowling at the man.

“Akiyama senpai and Kagawa-san… they’re dead because of you… they both committed suicide, and they’re just the ones I decided to check… there’s no telling how many more you killed, how many more lives you’ve ruined, how many families you’ve destroyed!” Blaine continued, “I’m sure they were scared too… except they had no choice but to end it all!” She finished. Joker took another step towards Kamoshida and was now right in front of him.

“So, Kamoshida… What will you do?” Joker said, “You gonna jump? Or you wanna die right here?” Joker said, his voice becoming deeper and more menacing than before. He held out his hand, expecting the king to hand over the treasure, to which he complied. With the treasure now in Joker’s hands, he turned around and walked back to his friends.

“So… We done here?” Skull asked.

“We’ve got what we came here for, so I’m good. What about you two?” Joker asked as he faced the girls, “I still don’t want to kill him, but I’m not gonna stop you if that’s what you girls want.”

“Wait, what!?” Skull stammered, giving Joker an incredulous look as he heard what his friend just said. Panther and Blaine glanced at each other; a small smirk formed on their face. They nodded at each other and pulled off their masks, summoning Carmen and Judith.

“N-Ngh… Please wait, I yield, please forgive meeee!” Kamoshida mumbled, completely fearful of what the two girls were about to do to him. The girls ordered their Personas to attack, sending out balls of fire and holy energy at the king.

“Shit, wait!” Skull cried, but to his surprise, the girls’ attack missed, but it caused Kamoshida to shriek in terror.

“Nooooooooo!!!” He cried.

“Shut up. I bet everyone told the same… But you… You took everything from them!” Panther yelled as she blasted another fireball past Kamoshida.

“P-Please, I accept defeat… I already gave you my crown. Just please, don’t kill me.” Kamoshida begged. Panther and Blaine growled at the man but let out an annoyed sigh.

“If we kill you, that means your mind shuts down and you won’t be able to confess your crimes.” Panther said sternly.

“Yeah… Death is too good a punishment for you. Once we leave this place, you are going to atone for your sins. You’re going to confess all your crimes, got it!” Blaine yelled. She was not asking him; she was ordering him.

“Alright… I will leave now and return to my real self… I’ll make certain that I…” Kamoshida trailed off before he disappeared in a flash of blue light. As soon as he disappeared, the whole castle began to shake, it was if they were experiencing an earthquake.

“H-Hey… we n-need to **_*hic*_** hurry… we don’t have timmmme to waste…” Mona drunkenly mumbled as he wobbled up to his friends, “This placcccce is about to **_*hic*_** collapse.”

Joker quickly picked Mona up.

“Quick, we need to book it outta here!” Joker yelled as he darted off with Morgana in one arm and the treasure in the other, followed closely by the rest of the Ghosts.

The castle began to crumble with the thieves still inside, sprinting their hearts out. Fortunately, the patrolling guards seemed to have disappeared along with Kamoshida, giving the teens an easy escape. They bolted through a hallway and were nearing the exit when Skull suddenly stumbled, clutching his right leg.

“Skull!” Blaine screamed as she saw Skull fall, she rushed over to help him up.

“Heh, sorry… It’s been a while since I ran like that, I just tripped is all.” Skull said as Blaine got him back to his feet. Joker and Panther stood by, waiting for their friends to move before they started running again. Joker and his team continued booking it to the exit, dodging falling debris as they reached the second floor of the foyer. Joker and the other’s jumped onto the chandeliers and scaled their way over to the painted glass windows. Ann withdrew her SMG and fired at the window, weakening it before Joker drop kicked it, successfully breaking the glass, and making an opening for his team. Joker landed into a dive roll before getting back up to his feet. Panther, Blaine and Skull soon joined him outside as they all ran to the exit.

As the Ghosts exited the Palace, they all fell into a pile in the alleyway near the school’s entrance. Ren was unfortunately at the base of the pile, followed by Ann, Shiho and Ryuji. Ren was fortunate enough to keep Morgana out of the pile, since all their combined weight would have surely crushed the poor cat.

“Ow…” Ren weakly mumbled underneath everyone, “Hey, I dunno about the rest of you, but I actually like breathing, so if you don’t mind…” He said while panting for air, his friends quickly got up and helped him to his feet.

“Oh, sorry dude!”

“My bad.”

“Sorry Ren, you’re not hurt, are you?” Ann asked as she drew Ren in for a tight hug.

“Eh, I’ve been worse. Though the hug is a little bit tight, not that I mind.” Ren replied as he drew Ann in with one arm while holding Morgana in the other.

“So, uh… Did we do it? Did we beat Kamoshida?” Ryuji asked, looking over at the Shujin entrance.

“Check the app.” Ren replied, not wanting to end his little hugging session with Ann. Ryuji pulled out his phone to check the Meta-Nav that appeared on his phone back when he and Ren first entered the palace.

**_*The destination has been deleted*_ **

“So, does that mean we can’t go back there anymore?” Shiho asked as she leaned against Ryuji, trying to get a look at his phone, causing him to blush. Ren and Ann giggled lightly as they saw Ryuji turn red.

“W-Where are we?” Morgana grumbled from Ren’s arm.

“We escaped the Palace after beating Kamoshida.” Ren replied.

“W-Wait!” Morgana exclaimed, he seemed to have sobered up from his previously drunken state, “What about the treasure!?” He cried, jumping out of Ren’s arm and frantically looked around for the crown.

“I dunno man, didn’t Ren-Ren have it last?” Ryuji asked.

“Uh…” Ren mumbled as he frantically searched his pockets, “I uh… don’t have it.”

“For real!?” Ryuji moaned, looking down at the ground, feeling rather disappointed, as if all their hard work had amounted to nothing, the other’s seemed to have shared Ryuji’s dejected demeanor, apart from Ren.

“Come on, guys, maybe… maybe the real treasure was the friends we made along the way?” Ren said, offering his team a cheerful smile, which seemed to have perked them all up slightly. Ren smile turned into a mischievous smirk as he began to chuckle under his breath.

“Ren, what’s so funny?” Ann asked as she looked up at Ren.

“Heh, I’m just fucking with you guys.” Ren said as he pulled a medal out of his blazer’s pocket, letting out a loud chuckle. The rest of the team gave Ren and incredulous stare.

“Dude… You’re such an asshole!” Ryuji yelled, lightly jabbing Ren’s shoulder.

“Default setting, remember?” Ren retorted, letting out another chuckle. Ann, Shiho, Morgana and eventually Ryuji joined in on the laughs, feeling relieved that everything they had gone through over the last few weeks weren’t in vain.

“I gotta ask though, why’s the treasure a medal?” Ryuji asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, wasn’t it a crown back inside the Palace?” Shiho added.

“It means that medal was the source of all Kamoshida’s distorted desires. To him, this medal is worth as much as that crown we saw in the Palace.” Morgana explained.

“An Olympic medal… so, that perv kept clingin’ to his past glory and couldn’t let it go…” Ryuji said.

“But… this means that Kamoshida’s heart changed, right?” Ann asked, receiving a nod from Morgana.

“Yes… probably…” He replied.

“Probably? Dude, my expulsion is on the line here.” Ren worriedly muttered.

“This is the first successful operation for me too. Don’t worry though, there’s no doubt that this will have a massive affect on his personality. His entire Palace disappeared, after all.”

“Ugh, now I feel all antsy. Guess all we can do now is hope.” Ren said, looking down at the ground anxiously, Ann noticed this and quickly nuzzled her head against his arm, which seemed to calm him down.

“Don’t worry, Ren, I’ve got no doubt in my mind that it worked.” She said reassuringly, Ren let out a small sigh before tilting his head at Ann, flashing her a small before kissing her forehead.

“Thanks, I think my brain needed that bit of reassurance.”

“I’m your girlfriend, after all. What type of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t pick you up when you’re feeling down?” Ann said, concealing her blush behind her pigtails. Ryuji quickly cleared his throat, gaining the two lovebird’s attention.

“Anyway, I’m really tired and really hungry. You guys wanna go grab a bite?” Ryuji asked his friends.

“Sure, who wants coffee and curry?” Ren suggested, to which everyone happily agreed. The teens all left the alleyway and headed for the train station.

Once the coast was clear, a thin boy with medium length brown hair, wearing an olive blazer, and holding a silver briefcase appeared from around the corner.

“Hm… So, you’ve decided to change Kamoshida’s heart, hmmm.” He said as he scratched his chin, “You certainly are an interesting individual, Ren Amamiya… I’ll be sure to keep close tabs on you.” The boy said, letting out a soft chuckle as he walked away from the scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, sorry for taking so long with this chapter. Some things came up at home and I wasn't able to work on this chapter as quickly as I would have liked.Thanks for being patient with me, and I hope you enjoyed reading. Also, thanks for 2k hits


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